On Monday, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, offered the purchase of non -profit, which effectively rules OpenAi for $ 97.4 billion. The unimpressed purchase will probably be financed by AI Musk, XAI and consortium of external investors, in accordance with a letter sent to California and General Prosecutors Delaware.
The president of Opeli, Altman himself, quickly rejected Musk’s offer and recognized it as an opportunity to publicly immerse him.
“I don’t thank you, but we’ll buy Twitter for $ 9.74 billion if you want,” wrote Altman in Post on X Just a few hours after reports about Muska’s offer for OpenAI appeared. Musk is the owner of the X, the social network previously generally known as Twitter; He paid about $ 44 billion for this in October 2022.
They each have history. Musk is a co -founder of OPENAI and each he and XAI are currently involved in a process that claims that Opeli has been involved, among others, in anti -competitive behavior.
But the rejection of the Altman in the amount of $ 97.4 billion is more complicated than the saying “not thanks”, according to corporate experts who talked to TechCrunch.
Stopping conversion non -Profit openai
In the background, Opeli was founded as a non-profit organization before moving to the structure of the “limited organization” in 2019. The non-profit organization is the only shareholder controlling the OpenAI corporation, which maintains formal confidance responsibility to non-profit card.
Opeli is now under restructuring-this time to a traditional company focused on profit, in particular the public corporation of benefits-to collect much greater capital. But Musk – who is known for drowning his enemies in legal problems – could maintain the transition and raise the price of the Non -Profit OpenAI organization with its offer.
Delaware AND CaliforniaGeneral lawyers asked for more information from the CHATGPT manufacturer about conversion plans to a profit -oriented corporation. The situation also forces her to seriously consider external offers.
Openai will probably be the management board almost definitely reject the offerBut Musk is preparing a scene of future legal and regulatory battles. For example, he tries to stop the conversion focused on OpenAI’s profit using an order. The offer seems to be a kind of alternative offer.
Now the Openai Council will have to show that this is not a deformation of the non -Openai -profit organization, transmitting non -profit assets, including IP from reserved OPENNAI research, entry (e.g. Altman itself) to obtain a steep discount.
“Musk throws the key to work,” said Stephen Diamond, a lawyer who represented Musk’s opponents in the battles of corporate order in Tesla in an interview with TechCrunch. “He uses a non -profit trust commitment to not raise assets. [Musk’s bid] It is something that Openai must pay attention to. “
It is said that Opeli is preparing for the funding round His shoulder value for $ 260 billion. Information informs about it Openai non-profit organization is aimed at obtaining 25% of shares in the OPENAI organization.
Thanks to its offer, Musk signaled at least one group of investors who wants to pay a large bonus for the Non -Profit OpenAI wing. This puts the management of directors in a cramped place.
Grounds for rejection
Despite this, only because Musk has thrown out a stunning offer, does not mean that the non-profit organization Openai must accept.
According to David Yosifon, a corporate corporate professor, corporate law gives a huge authorization to the management board in order to protect against unintentional acquisition offers.
Opeli may justify that Muska’s offer is an hostile attempt to take over, considering that Musk and Altman They are not the best friends.
The company could also argue that Musk’s offer is not reliable, because Opeli is already undergoing corporate restructuring.
Another Openai’s approach might be the challenge of Musk whether he has funds. As the New York Times notesThe richness of Musk is largely associated with his Tesla shares, which suggests that Muska’s investment partners would have to provide a significant part of $ 97.4 billion.
The OpenAI Council may have to browse Musk’s offers fully assessing whether it is in line with the mission of non -profit organization, not only with specific financial or strategic goals, according to Scott Curan, a former adviser to the Clinton Foundation. This signifies that Musk’s offer might be burdened with the OpenAI mission: “To provide artificial general intelligence – AI systems that are usually smarter than people – will benefit all humanity.”
“When Altman published this answer [on X]It was probably done without legal instructions – said Yosififie. “It’s not good for the regulator to see this sort of disregard, tweet knees.”
Raising the value of OpenAI assets
Board will probably be on the Altman side. Almost all directors joined after Altman was released briefly, and then employed by the Management Board of Non -Profit at the end of 2023. Altman is also a member of the board.
If nothing more, Muska’s offer can increase the potential market value of non -profit operai assets. This may force OpenAI to increase capital than originally expected, and to complex talks with existing supporters of the startup. This can even dilute the value of rates owned by OpenAI investors in a profit -oriented arm, including important partners similar to Microsoft.
This is definitely the anger of Altman, who has been cooperating with investors for months to determine how to compensate for the non -profit organization.
GIST is: Opeli’s restructuring plans have turn into more complex.