Openai asks Meta to prepare evidence related to the coordinated plans with Elon Musk and Xai, and to acquire or invest in ChatGpt-Maker.
The request was published in a short summary filed Thursday in Elon Musk’s ongoing lawsuit against Openai. The lawyer representing Openai said he summoned Meta in June on documents related to potential involvement related to Mask’s unsolicited $97 billion bid to take over the startup in February. It is unclear whether such documents exist or not. Openai ultimately refused Musk’s bid.
Openai’s lawyers said they found Musk had communicated with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg regarding Xai’s bid to purchase ChatGpt-Maker, which includes “on potential funding and investments.”
Meta opposed Openai’s first summons in July. ChatGpt-Maker’s lawyers are currently seeking a court order to obtain such evidence. Openai also asks the court for meta documents and communications related to “actual or potential reconstruction or recapitalization of Openai.”
Meta spokesman Andy Stone has directed TechCrunch towards Openai’s filing section. This states that neither Meta nor Zuckerberg has signed Musk’s intentions to acquire ChatGpt-Maker.
Meta declined to comment further. Attorneys for Openai and Musk did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
In the background of the battle against open masks, Meta is investing heavily in its own efforts to develop frontier AI models. In 2023, Meta executives are obsessed with developing AI models that could defeat Openai’s GPT-4. In early 2025, Meta’s AI models were behind industry standards, reportedly infuriating Zuckerberg.
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Zuckerberg has raised pressure over the past few months, poaching some of Openai’s leading AI researchers. This includes Shengjia Zhao, co-creator of ChatGpt, who leads research efforts at Meta Superintelligence Labs, the current latest AI unit. Meta also reportedly invested $14 billion in scale AI and reportedly approached several other AI labs on acquisition transactions.
It is unclear how far the lecture has progressed between Musk and Zuckerberg, but the mere idea of a partnership between the two billionaires represents how much of a threat Openai poses. Two years ago, Musk said he would physically fight Zuckerberg in a cage match (though that never happened).
The rise of AI may have led Musk and Zuckerberg to put the differences aside.
The filing, disclosed on Thursday, is part of a massive lawsuit filed by Musk against Openai, which has been struggling with the conversion of open-profits into public benefits companies. Such a shift is necessary for Openai to acquire funds from investors and ultimately make it public. However, Musk, a co-founder and early investor of Openai – tried to throw a wrench into the effort, claiming that the restructuring was against the startup’s founding mission.
The lawyer representing Meta asked the court to reject Openai’s request for evidence, claiming that Musk and Xai could provide relevant information. Meta also argues that internal debates regarding Openai’s restructuring and recapitalization are not related to the case.
This story was updated to add information about the incident as well as the history of Musk and Zuckerberg’s relationship.
