WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Elon Musk tried to enlist Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in his audacious $97.4 billion bid to acquire OpenAI earlier this year, according to court filings unsealed Thursday.
The revelation emerged as part of Musk's ongoing legal battle with OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015 before becoming one of its fiercest critics.
The filing states that in February, Musk and his AI startup xAI approached Zuckerberg with a letter of intent seeking potential financing arrangements.
Neither Meta nor Zuckerberg signed on, with the filing noting that Meta was already investing heavily in its own artificial intelligence efforts, including offering packages of $100 million or more to recruit leading AI researchers and reportedly attempting to poach OpenAI talent.
OpenAI has described Musk's takeover proposal as a 'sham bid' aimed at undermining the company while fueling litigation and public attacks. The company is seeking to compel Meta to hand over communications related to the approach, while Meta has argued the request is burdensome and unnecessary.
Musk's February bid came at a fraction of OpenAI's soaring valuation. The AI leader was recently reported to be nearing a $500 billion valuation in talks to raise $6 billion from investors, underscoring how steeply the company's worth has climbed.
Once allies, Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have become bitter adversaries since Musk launched xAI in 2023 to directly compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT.
OpenAI has argued in court that Musk's lawsuits are part of a broader harassment campaign designed to slow its progress as the two vie for dominance in generative AI.
Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2025 AFX News
