Court documents revealed that in early 2025, Elon Musk offered Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to join in the $97.4 billion buyout of OpenAI. Musk even sent him a letter of intent, but neither Zuckerberg nor Meta signed it, CNBC reports.
The information emerged during a lawsuit between Musk and OpenAI, which is being heard in a court in Northern California. A judge has allowed OpenAI to file counterclaims against Musk. He founded the company with Sam Altman in 2015 as a non-profit organization, but now opposes its transformation into a business, which is what caused the conflict.
Musk created xAI back in 2023, which was supposed to be a competitor to OpenAI. He later filed a lawsuit against his former partners, accusing them of violating agreements and trying to block the company’s transition to a profitable model. OpenAI, in turn, stated that Musk’s attempts to buy the company were “fictitious” and only harmed its reputation and business. In addition, OpenAI accuses Musk of “harassment” through the courts and public statements in the media and social networks.
According to the new documents, OpenAI is seeking a court order from Meta to provide correspondence between the company, its management, and Musk regarding a potential deal. Meta is trying to avoid this, considering the requests excessive and stating that the necessary materials should be obtained from Musk himself and xAI.
Separately, the materials emphasize that Meta is actively investing in its own AI developments, offering leading researchers compensation packages of over $100 million and trying to lure OpenAI specialists.