The board of directors of OpenAI has unanimously declined an offer from billionaire Elon Musk to acquire the nonprofit organization that oversees OpenAI, the company announced on Friday.

In a statement released via OpenAI’s press account on X, Bret Taylor, chair of the board, described Musk’s offer as “an attempt to disrupt his competition.”

“OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition,” Taylor stated. “Any potential reorganization of OpenAI will strengthen our nonprofit and its mission to ensure [artificial general intelligence] benefits all of humanity.”

According to a report by The New York Times, OpenAI also sent a letter to Musk’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff, stating that the offer was “not in the best interests of [OpenAI’s] mission.”

On Monday, Musk, his AI company xAI, and a group of investors made a $97.4 billion offer to acquire OpenAI’s nonprofit. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the company’s board of directors quickly, although not formally, dismissed the unsolicited proposal. In a statement, Andy Nussbaum, counsel representing OpenAI’s board, said Musk’s offer “doesn’t set a value for [OpenAI’s] nonprofit” and that the nonprofit is “not for sale.”

Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, filed a lawsuit against the company and Altman last year, alleging anticompetitive behavior, fraud, and other offenses.

Initially founded as a nonprofit, OpenAI transitioned to a “capped-profit” structure in 2019. The nonprofit remains the sole controlling shareholder of the capped-profit OpenAI corporation, which has a formal fiduciary responsibility to the nonprofit’s charter. OpenAI is currently undergoing restructuring, this time to a traditional for-profit company, specifically a public benefit corporation. However, Musk is seeking to block the conversion through his lawsuit.

In a court filing on Wednesday, Musk’s lawyers stated that he would withdraw his offer if OpenAI’s board “preserve[s] the charity’s mission” and halts the conversion to a for-profit company. In a filing earlier the same day, OpenAI’s attorneys described Musk’s bid as “an improper attempt to undermine a competitor” and a contradiction of his position in court that a transfer of the startup’s assets through restructuring would breach its mission as a charitable trust.

Musk’s allies and Altman have exchanged criticisms over the offer this week. In a podcast interview on Thursday, Ari Emanuel, one of the backers of Musk’s offer for the OpenAI nonprofit, referred to Altman as a “phony” who is “trying to get away with cheating the charity and its original mission.” Altman has described Musk’s offer as “an attempt to slow [OpenAI] down” and suggested that Musk’s actions are motivated by “insecurity.”