Court filings made public on Thursday have revealed that Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, reached out to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this year to help finance a massive $97.4 billion takeover bid for OpenAI.
The disclosure comes as part of Musk’s ongoing legal battle with OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015 as a non-profit alongside Sam Altman and other tech leaders. The case, currently being heard in a federal court in Northern California, recently saw the judge grant OpenAI permission to pursue counterclaims against Musk.
Musk first proposed the buyout in February 2025, expressing anger over OpenAI’s transition from a non-profit to a for-profit company under Altman’s leadership. The rift between Musk and Altman—once close allies—has since grown deeper, especially after Microsoft invested billions into OpenAI, positioning it as a leader in generative AI.
In response, Musk launched his own AI startup, xAI, in 2023, vowing to directly compete with OpenAI. He later filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing it of breaching its original non-profit mission. OpenAI, in turn, has claimed that Musk’s legal actions and public criticism amount to harassment and that his attempted buyout harmed the company’s reputation and operations.
According to the filing, Musk and xAI approached Zuckerberg with a letter of intent to explore potential financing or investments for the takeover. However, Meta ultimately declined to sign the agreement. OpenAI has since subpoenaed Meta to disclose communications between Musk, Zuckerberg, and Meta executives related to the proposal.
Meta, which has been investing heavily in artificial intelligence—including offering pay packages of $100 million or more to top AI researchers—has pushed back against OpenAI’s requests, arguing that the company should instead obtain communications directly from Musk and xAI.
A Meta spokesperson has declined to comment on the matter, while Musk’s legal representative, Marc Toberoff, has not yet responded to requests.