Musk reportedly asked Zuckerberg to join bid for OpenAI IP, newly unsealed court files show

Text message reveals an audacious acquisition play

It has been reported that Elon Musk privately floated a plan last year to recruit Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to join a consortium bidding for OpenAI’s intellectual property, according to newly unsealed court documents cited by Business Insider and reposted by Chinese outlets. The exchange, dated February 3–4, 2025 (Pacific / Beijing time), shows Musk asking whether Zuckerberg “would be willing to bid” alongside him and others to acquire OpenAI’s IP — a move aimed at controlling the nonprofit entity and blocking its conversion to a more commercial model.

Billion‑dollar bid and denials

Reportedly, the consortium led by Musk’s xAI submitted an offer on February 10, 2025, valuing the target at $94.7 billion. OpenAI’s court filings list Zuckerberg as a potential contact for financing conversations, but a company spokesperson has stated that “Zuckerberg and Meta did not sign that consent.” The filings also include text-message exchanges about unrelated efforts to manage leaks and threats tied to the DOGE office — small details in a drama with very large dollar figures.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushed back publicly and wryly, reportedly responding to the bid idea with: “No thank you. If you want, we can buy Twitter for $9.74 billion.” Whether the overture was a serious takeover attempt or a strategic leverage move, the episode underscores deep governance tensions inside one of the world’s most consequential AI organizations.

Stakes for the AI race and geopolitics

Why does this matter? Control of OpenAI’s IP would reshape who sets technical priorities and commercial terms for advanced models that power search, chatbots and critical infrastructure. The kerfuffle highlights intense competition among U.S. tech titans for AI dominance and raises fresh questions for regulators and policymakers about concentration of power, transparency and the public interest — issues that are increasingly discussed in U.S.–China tech rivalry and export‑control conversations, even if this particular battle sits squarely in Silicon Valley.