A recent court filing by OpenAI has cast new light on the ongoing public and legal feud between the AI research company and its co-founder, Elon Musk. According to the filing, Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and X (formerly Twitter), sought financial participation from Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a $97.4 billion move to acquire control of OpenAI. Though Zuckerberg did not join the bid, the revelation signals deepening intrigue and competition in Silicon Valley’s race for AI dominance.

An Attempted Power Shift at OpenAI

Elon Musk’s relationship with OpenAI has been turbulent. After co-founding the organization in 2015 alongside Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018 over disagreements about the organization’s structure and future direction. At its core, the conflict centered on OpenAI’s decision to shift from a nonprofit model toward a “capped-profit” structure—an approach Musk has argued strays from the group’s original mission of developing artificial intelligence for the public good.

In February 2025, reports surfaced that Musk, together with a group of investors, presented a $97.4 billion proposal to take control of OpenAI. The latest court records show that Musk reached out to Mark Zuckerberg to explore a partnership or investment, though Zuckerberg ultimately declined to join the bid. This move came at a time when both Meta and X (Musk’s platform) are pushing hard into the commercial AI space, and Zuckerberg himself has positioned Meta’s Llama language models as open-source alternatives to competitors such as OpenAI’s GPT models.

Legal Drama Between Musk, OpenAI, and Meta

The revelation is just the latest twist in a heated back-and-forth of lawsuits and countersuits across the AI tech landscape. Musk, in February 2024, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging that the company had strayed from its original goal and was prioritizing profit over universal benefit. In response, OpenAI filed a countersuit in April, accusing Musk of seeking to destabilize the company with a “sham bid” for its assets and engaging in unfair business practices.

In the most recent court filing, OpenAI asked a judge to compel Meta to produce any communications relating to Musk’s acquisition attempts, stating such records could shed light on the motivations and strategy behind the bid. Meta responded by claiming such information was irrelevant to the ongoing case and directed OpenAI to request details from Musk directly or from his recently formed AI venture, xAI.

The legal standoff is set to continue, with a San Francisco judge recently denying Musk’s motion to dismiss OpenAI’s claims, thus paving the way for the cases, including possible claims of fraudulent business practices, to proceed towards a jury trial in March 2026.

Backdrop: Existential Stakes in AI Development

The Musk-OpenAI legal conflict extends far beyond boardroom drama. It underscores fierce debates within the AI community regarding the ethics, openness, and governance of advanced AI. Musk has repeatedly warned that commercially driven AI, managed by a handful of companies, could become uncontrollable and pose existential threats to humanity. OpenAI, meanwhile, asserts it remains committed to safe and universal benefits from AI, even as it takes commercial funding to scale up research and infrastructure.

The confrontation is occurring against a backdrop of rapidly increasing AI investments worldwide. Estimates from Grand View Research indicate that the global AI market will reach $1.8 trillion by 2030, up from $197 billion in 2023. Major tech firms—including Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and xAI—are in a race to develop and monetize generative AI models, autonomous systems, and commercial applications at scale. Legal conflicts are becoming more frequent as industry players compete for key talent, data, and technology assets.

Meta’s AI Ambitions

Meta, under Zuckerberg’s leadership, remains a major force in the AI arms race. Over the last year, Meta has expanded its Llama AI models, open-sourced significant AI tools, and invested heavily in data infrastructure. The company spent over $30 billion on AI research over the past two years, cementing itself as a competitor to Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google’s DeepMind. Zuckerberg’s refusal to join Musk’s consortium signals Meta’s preference to build proprietary value and platforms, rather than consolidating industry power through mergers.

Broader Industry Implications

As top executives like Musk and Zuckerberg vie for influence over the future of AI, the battle has implications for open-source access, regulatory oversight, and the ultimate beneficiaries of advanced AI technology. The United States and the European Union are actively developing regulatory frameworks for AI, aiming to balance security and safety with innovation. Lawsuits like this may influence these regulations, especially regarding AI company structures and commitments to public benefit versus profit.

Investor interest in AI startups and established firms remains at fever pitch despite—or perhaps because of—the risk and uncertainty surrounding AI’s future. According to PitchBook, over $80 billion of private capital was invested in AI startup companies in 2024 alone.

Looking Ahead: The Trial and AI’s Future

With the legal battle set for a jury trial in March 2026, the industry will be watching closely to see whether OpenAI’s countersuit and Musk’s allegations lead to broader changes in AI governance or industry practice. For now, the disclosure that Musk sought Zuckerberg’s partnership—despite their intense rivalry and differing philosophies for AI development—illustrates how high the stakes have become in shaping the next era of artificial intelligence.

As this saga unfolds, the debate about whether AI will benefit all of humanity—versus serving only a handful of powerful companies—remains both urgent and unresolved.