Elon Musk Asked Mark Zuckerberg to Join OpenAI Buying Bid, According to Court Filings Two summers ago, the billionaire CEOs were discussing locations for their cage fight.
By Erin Davis Edited by Sherin Shibu
Key Takeaways
- Elon Musk asked Mark Zuckerberg to help xAI buy OpenAI in early 2025 for $97.4 billion, according to court documents.
- The paperwork was never signed by Zuckerberg, according to reports.
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman turned down the offer.
Looks like the cage fight is off for good.
In August 2023, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were fighting on X and making plans for an IRL "cage match" brawl. Two years later, it was revealed that the billionaires could have become business partners.
According to court documents seen by CNBC, Musk asked Zuckerberg to help him buy OpenAI in an early 2025 takeover bid for $97.4 billion, the outlet reported late Thursday. OpenAI said that when Musk and xAI were "trying to form a consortium of investors to finance a takeover," they approached Zuckerberg with a letter of intent.
Related: Sam Altman Says Elon Musk Is 'Clearly a Bully' Who Likes to Get in Fights with Rivals
In February, Elon Musk made the surprise offer to buy OpenAI and its assets, but Altman turned him down. When asked about the bid that month at the Paris AI Action Summit, Altman told Bloomberg: "Elon tries all sorts of things. I think he's probably just trying to slow us down."
The filing is part of an ongoing court battle, which was initiated last year by Musk, who helped cofound OpenAI but left in early 2018 after clashing with Altman. He has since filed lawsuits against Altman and OpenAI, accusing them of undoing the founding principles of the non-profit company by working to maximize profits for Microsoft, a key investor that's poured billions into the company.
OpenAI has filed a counterclaims case, which a judge recently said can continue.
Musk started a rival AI company, xAI, in 2023.
The statement in the filing also noted that Meta is "spending heavily" in its own AI research and has been "offering pay packages of $100 million or more to leading AI researchers and attempting to poach OpenAI employees."
The number of court filings is vast: In November 2024, xAI also filed a separate, 107-page complaint against OpenAI, accusing the ChatGPT-maker of "aggressively recruiting employees with offers of lavish compensation" and spending "$1.5 billion on personnel for just 1,500 employees."
Musk is the richest person in the world, with $364 billion at press time, while Zuckerberg is No. 3, with $260 billion, per Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.
Maybe the next cage match will be a tag team.
Related: Elon Musk Accuses ChatGPT-Maker OpenAI of Being a 'Market-Paralyzing Gorgon': Lawsuit
