OpenAI board responds to Musk's $97.4 billion acquisition offer: Its legal claims are contradictory

The OpenAI board questioned the rationality of Elon Musk and others bidding $97.4 billion to acquire the company on Wednesday.

On Monday, an investor consortium led by Musk proposed to acquire assets of the non-profit organization controlling the company, intensifying a years-long dispute between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

In a court document submitted on Wednesday, the company stated that Musk's acquisition offer contradicts his legal claims in a lawsuit against OpenAI last year.

OpenAI argued in the document that Musk claimed in the lawsuit that assets must remain with non-profit organizations and cannot be transferred to another entity for public interest, essentially accusing Musk of hypocrisy.

Previously in litigation, Musk had said that OpenAI must be managed by a non-profit organization but now has put forward an opposite view. The OpenAI board has not yet formally rejected this offer.