Elon Musk asked Mark Zuckerberg if he would consider joining him in bidding for OpenAI's intellectual property before the Tesla CEO made an unsolicited offer for the ChatGPT maker in February 2025, according to newly released court documents.
The newly unredacted documents are part of Musk's ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman.
The documents provide a glimpse into the communication between Musk and the Meta CEO, who have had a roller coaster relationship, including challenges to MMA fights.
In one unsealed exhibit, Zuckerberg texted Musk at 10:04 p.m. PT on February 3, 2025, to say that it seemed like the White House DOGE office, for which Musk was the de facto leader, was "making progress." He also added that his "teams" would be "on alert to take down content doxxing or threatening" people who work with Musk at DOGE, according to the documents.
"Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help," Zuckerberg added.
Less than half an hour later, Musk reacted to Zuckerberg's message with a heart emoji and followed up with a question about OpenAI.
"Are you open to the idea of bidding on the OpenAI IP with me and some others?" Musk said, referring to the common term for intellectual property.
"Want to discuss live?" Zuckerberg responded.
Musk liked Zuckerberg's message and texted back that he would "call in the morning," according to the documents.
It's unclear if the planned call actually took place. A Meta spokesperson told Business Insider that the company has no comment.
Based on a court briefing OpenAI filed on August 21, 2025, Musk "identified" Zuckerberg as a person he communicated with regarding a letter of intent about "potential financing arrangements or investments" in OpenAI.
"Neither Zuckerberg nor Meta signed the LOI," OpenAI added in the briefing.
OpenAI, Elon Musk, and a senior legal counsel for Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On February 10, 2025, a consortium of investors, including xAI, led by Musk, submitted an unsolicited $97.4 billion bid to acquire the then-nonprofit organization that controls OpenAI. The bid, submitted by Musk's attorney Marc Toberoff, was aimed at blocking OpenAI's transition into a for-profit entity.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman promptly responded to the bid on X and said, "no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want."
In August 2024, Musk sued Altman and others on the OpenAI board, alleging that he was deceived into investing and that the founders originally approached him to fund a nonprofit focused on developing AI to benefit humanity, but that it was now focused on generating profit. Musk contributed around $38 million to OpenAI in its initial years but is now seeking up to $134 billion in damages in the most recent version of the lawsuit.
In a separate conversation between Zuckerberg and Musk on December 13, 2024, Zuckerberg told Musk that someone had "leaked" Meta's letter to the California Attorney General in support of Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI.
"Wanted to make sure you heard this from me," Zuckerberg added.
OpenAI officially completed its conversion from a nonprofit to a for-profit company in October 2025, although it still maintains a nonprofit wing.
Musk's lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI will begin jury selection on April 27 in Oakland, California.
