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OpenAI Presses Meta for Evidence on Musk’s $97 Billion Takeover Bid
August 21, 2025
OpenAI is pressing Meta to hand over evidence tied to potential coordination with Elon Musk and his AI company, xAI, regarding a $97 billion bid to acquire the ChatGPT-maker earlier this year.
The request surfaced in a filing made Thursday in Musk’s ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI. According to the filing, OpenAI’s lawyers subpoenaed Meta in June for documents related to the bid, which OpenAI ultimately rejected. It remains unclear whether such documents exist.
OpenAI claims that Musk communicated directly with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about financing arrangements or potential investments in connection with the proposed takeover. Meta initially objected to the subpoena in July, prompting OpenAI to seek a court order compelling the release of relevant communications and internal documents.
Specifically, OpenAI is asking the court to require Meta to disclose any records tied to “actual or potential restructuring or recapitalization of OpenAI.” This issue lies at the heart of Musk’s lawsuit, which challenges OpenAI’s conversion of its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation — a structure that allows it to attract outside funding while still claiming to prioritize its mission.
Meta has pointed out that neither Zuckerberg nor the company signed Musk’s letter of intent to acquire OpenAI. Still, the filing adds a new dimension to the already fraught relationship between Musk and OpenAI.
The backdrop to this legal battle is Meta’s own aggressive push in AI. Court filings in a separate case revealed that in 2023, Meta executives focused heavily on building a model to surpass GPT-4. By early 2025, however, Meta’s efforts reportedly fell behind industry leaders, leading to frustration at the company’s top levels. Since then, Zuckerberg has escalated efforts by recruiting prominent OpenAI researchers and investing billions into other AI ventures, including a $14 billion bet on Scale AI.
The possibility of Musk and Zuckerberg working together — despite their very public rivalry — underscores the high stakes surrounding frontier AI. Just two years ago, Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a cage fight, a spectacle that never materialized. Now, the rise of generative AI appears to have pushed both billionaires to explore cooperation, at least temporarily.
Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI remains ongoing, with Meta’s lawyers urging the court to deny OpenAI’s request for evidence. They argue that Musk and xAI themselves can provide any relevant materials, and that Meta’s internal deliberations on OpenAI’s restructuring are not pertinent to the case.
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