Musk's OpenAI Bid Rejected Amid Legal Feud With Zuckerberg

Tensions Rise as Tech Titans Clash: A visual representation of the ongoing legal feud between two major industry leaders over OpenAI, featuring Meta's and X's branding.

Elon Musk approached Mark Zuckerberg earlier this year to back a $97.4 billion bid to buy OpenAI. But Zuckerberg declined, and the bid was rejected. OpenAI alleges Musk acted insincerely, trying to block the company's shift to a for-profit model while recruiting staff. Musk denies these allegations. However, it was later revealed that they both wanted OpenAI to remain the umbrella of a non-profit organization that it is today.

The dispute is part of a broader legal and business rivalry. Musk co-founded OpenAI but parted ways due to disagreements and now runs his own AI firm, X AI (Grok). OpenAI seeks communications between Musk and Zuckerberg in court as legal battles continue, with a trial set for 2026. These two distinct perspectives show the different sides to said argument, which is now going to be resolved legally. What's next, you ask? Well, the deal's been called off, but Musk might not have ruled it out as a move for the future. For now, both OpenAI and Zuckerberg are seeking legal action. In my opinion, I don't think Musk had a chance to successfully recruit Zuckerberg to join the deal due to their rivalry and conflicting personalities. I would predict that this situation would have led to a disagreement between the pair, one way or another. Further developments indicate that in August 2025, a judge officially ruled that Musk must face OpenAI's accusations that he attempted to harm the company. After all this, Musk awaits a trial scheduled for spring 2026.