SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — New details from a court filing have revealed that Elon Musk sought help from his rival, Mark Zuckerberg, to finance his bid to acquire OpenAI for $97.4 billion. The information came to light in a legal brief filed by OpenAI as part of a lawsuit brought by Musk against the company, according to reports from Quartz and The Times of India.
The filing states that Musk, in response to legal questions, identified Zuckerberg as a person he had communicated with regarding “potential financing arrangements or investments” for a deal to purchase the ChatGPT-maker. This communication reportedly took place in February, when Musk and a group of investors made the unsolicited offer to acquire OpenAI. Neither Zuckerberg nor Meta signed a letter of intent or participated in the bid, which was quickly rejected by OpenAI’s board, according to a report from Dunya News.
The revelation adds a new layer to the legal battle between Musk and OpenAI, which began after Musk, a co-founder of the company, filed a lawsuit accusing it of straying from its original non-profit mission. OpenAI has filed a counterclaim, alleging that Musk’s bid was a “sham” designed to harass and harm the company.
OpenAI’s filing asks a judge to order Meta to produce any documents or communications it had with Musk about a potential deal. Meta has argued against this request, stating that it has no relevant information since it never joined the bid. The back-and-forth illustrates the intense competition and legal disputes at the heart of the AI industry.
