OpenAI plans to grant non-profit board privileges to counter Musk's "malicious acquisition"

To fend off a takeover bid initiated by Musk, OpenAI, a start-up valued at $157 billion, is considering granting special voting rights to its non-profit board of directors to protect their power.

According to people familiar with the discussions, after OpenAI's transition into a more traditional for-profit company, CEO Sam Altman and other board members are weighing up a series of new governance mechanisms. These would grant the non-profit board substantial voting rights that will ensure they maintain control over the restructured company and can veto decisions from existing investors such as Microsoft and SoftBank.

While no final decision has been made yet, these special voting rights would also ensure that OpenAI could repel hostile takeovers like those from Musk. The special voting rights could potentially keep power in the hands of the non-profit sector in response to criticism from Tesla's CEO.