Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, asked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to help him finance a $97.4 billion takeover of OpenAI in early 2025, court filings on Thursday revealed, CNBC reported.
The filing is part of a legal case between Musk and OpenAI that was initiated last year. The case is proceeding in a federal court in Northern California, and a judge recently said OpenAI can move ahead with counter claims against Musk, who co-founded OpenAI as a non-profit with Sam Altman and others in 2015.
When Musk floated his proposal to buy OpenAI in February, he was incensed that the company and Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, were pushing to transform the business into a for-profit entity. Altman and Musk, who were longtime friends, have become bitter adversaries since OpenAI’s emergence as a leader in generative AI with billions of dollars in funding from Microsoft.
Musk started xAI in 2023 and was pushing for it to be a direct competitor to OpenAI. Musk later sued OpenAI, alleging a breach of contract, and tried to stop OpenAI from connecting to a for-profit company.
As part of its complaint, OpenAI has filed to subpoena Meta for communications between the company, its CEO and Musk about the bid.
TechCrunch reported: OpenAI is asking Meta to produce evidence related to any coordinated plans with Elon Musk and xAI to acquire or invest in the ChatGPT-maker.
The request was made public in a brief filed Thursday in Elon Musk’s ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI. Lawyers representing OpenAI said they subpoenaed Meta in June for documents related to its potential involvement in Musk’s unsolicited $97 billion bid to take over the startup in February. It’s unclear from the filing whether such documents exist. OpenAI ultimately rejected Musk’s bid.
OpenAI’s lawyer said they discovered that Musk communicated with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg concerning xAI’s bid to purchase the ChatGPT-maker, including “about potential financing arrangements or investments.”
Meta objected to OpenAI’s initial subpoena in July; the ChatGPT-maker’s lawyers are now seeking a court order to obtain such evidence. OpenAI is also asking the court for any of Meta’s documents and communications related to “any actual or potential restricting or recapitalization of OpenAI” – the core issue in Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI.
New York Post reported: Elon Musk tried to enlist Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg to join us in an unsolicited bid to buy OpenAI earlier this year — at what looks like a bargain basement price below $100 billion, lawyers for Sam Altman’s firm alleged.
In February, Musk made a shocking $97.4 billion bid to take control of OpenAI.
That’s a fraction of the eye-popping $500 billion valuation that OpenAI was reportedly set to reach last week while in advanced talks to raise $6 billion from investors.
OpenAI attorneys said Musk identified “Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s Chairman and CEO, as an individual whom he had communicated concerning the letter of intent related to his offer, according to a statement included in court filings in Thursday.