Elon Musk requested Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to tie xAI bid to shop for OpenAI, submitting presentations

Elon Musk, the arena’s richest individual, requested Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to backup him finance a $97.4 billion takeover of OpenAI in early 2025, court docket filings on Thursday unhidden.

The submitting is a part of a felony case between Musk and OpenAI that was once initiated ultimate day. The case is continuing in a federal court docket in Northern California, and a pass judgement on not too long ago stated OpenAI can go forward with counter claims towards Musk, who co-founded OpenAI as a non-profit with Sam Altman and others in 2015.

When Musk floated his proposal to shop for OpenAI in February, he was once incensed that the corporate and Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, have been pushing to develop into the trade right into a for-profit entity. Altman and Musk, who have been longtime buddies, have turn into sour adversaries since OpenAI’s emergence as a pace-setter in generative AI with billions of bucks in investment from Microsoft.

Musk began xAI in 2023 and was once pushing for it to be an instantaneous competitor to OpenAI. Musk after sued OpenAI, alleging a breach of guarantee, and attempted to restrain OpenAI from changing to a for-profit corporate.

In its counter claims, OpenAI has alleged that Musk and xAI’s “sham bid” harmed its trade and that Musk has i’m busy in “harassment” thru litigation and assaults on social media and within the press.

As a part of its grievance, OpenAI has filed to subpoena Meta for communications between the corporate, its CEO and Musk in regards to the bid.

In a remark to the court docket revealed Thursday, OpenAI stated that once Musk and xAI have been seeking to mode a consortium of traders to finance a takeover, they approached Zuckerberg with a letter of intent and requested “about potential financing arrangements or investments.”

Neither Zuckerberg nor Meta signed the LOI, the submitting stated.

A Meta spokesperson declined to remark. Marc Toberoff, Musk’s legal professional within the case, didn’t reply to a request for remark.

The remark within the submitting stated that Meta has been “spending heavily to develop its own Al capabilities” and has been “offering pay packages of $100 million or more to leading Al researchers and attempting to poach OpenAI employees.” 

Meta has argued that OpenAI’s calls for paperwork are overly burdensome, and that OpenAI must download related communications from Musk and xAI, in lieu.

WATCH: How Sam Altman is tackling a rising blackmail to the week of OpenAI: Elon Musk