xAI made a $97.4 billion bid to acquire OpenAI, triggering a valuation battle under the hood

According to Duckietale Beating monitoring, the Musk camp once made a $97.4 billion bid in February 2025 to acquire control of the nonprofit organization OpenAI. The target was crucial: OpenAI was planning to restructure its for-profit business into a PBC, a for-profit company bound by a mission of public benefit. If the nonprofit parent continued to hold control, it would still determine the governance direction of OpenAI.

The core purpose of this bid was to price the nonprofit assets of OpenAI. The Musk camp believed that for OpenAI to complete the restructuring, it had to prove that the nonprofit assets were not undervalued. The $97.4 billion bid served as a market reference price to present to regulators and the court.

OpenAI subsequently rejected the bid outright, stating that the company was not for sale and characterizing the bid as Musk's interference with a competitor. In the following developments, OpenAI adjusted the restructuring plan, emphasizing that the nonprofit organization would continue to control OpenAI Group PBC and hold equity in the for-profit entity valued at around $130 billion to address concerns about "charitable assets being transferred at a low price."

This also prompted a reexamination of Jared Birchall on the 4th day of the trial. He stated that the xAI bid was aimed at ensuring a fair valuation of OpenAI's nonprofit assets but was unable to explain who set the $97.4 billion, where the valuation analysis came from, and how business decisions and legal strategies were differentiated. As a result, OpenAI's lawyers seized upon a new point of attack: whether this bid was a serious acquisition or a litigation weapon to block OpenAI's restructuring.