Elon Musk tried to recruit Meta Platforms Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to help finance a roughly $97.4 billion unsolicited bid for OpenAI earlier this year, according to a court filing unsealed on 22 August. OpenAI said Musk identified Zuckerberg as one of the executives he contacted about “potential financing arrangements or investments” to support the February offer, which the ChatGPT maker’s board later rejected. Neither Zuckerberg nor Meta signed a letter of intent or joined the investor consortium behind the proposal. In the same filing, OpenAI asked a federal judge to compel Meta to hand over documents and communications related to any discussions about the bid or other potential recapitalisation of the company, arguing the information could shed light on the motivations for Musk’s approach. Meta countered that OpenAI should obtain any relevant material directly from Musk and his AI start-up xAI, saying its own records are not germane because it never participated in the offer. The disclosure emerges amid a broader legal battle pitting Musk against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman. Musk—who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left three years later—has sued the organisation over its shift to a for-profit structure, while OpenAI has filed counterclaims accusing him of waging a “sham bid” to disrupt the company. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has scheduled a jury trial for spring 2026.