CWEB Business News – The escalating legal warfare between rival artificial intelligence firms xAI, founded by Elon Musk, and Sam Altman’s OpenAI has ensnared a third tech titan, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms Inc. (META) According to recent court filings, Meta has formally petitioned the court to be excused from the burgeoning feud, seeking to avoid the burdens of a subpoena issued by OpenAI.
The litigation, which features a series of lawsuits and counter-suits between the one-time collaborators turned adversaries, Musk and Altman, alleges various forms of misconduct. Now, the conflict has drawn in Meta after court documents unsealed Thursday revealed that Elon Musk had solicited Zuckerberg’s financial backing for a takeover bid of OpenAI earlier this year.
The filing indicates that Musk presented a letter of intent to Meta seeking support for a staggering $97.4 billion acquisition attempt. Meta, however, declined to participate and did not sign the document. Leveraging this disclosure, OpenAI’s legal team has moved to subpoena Meta, demanding the company produce all internal and external communications pertaining to Musk’s proposal, including those with and between Musk and Zuckerberg.
In its formal response, Meta’s legal counsel contended that the discovery request is unduly onerous and irrelevant, arguing that the documents sought are already within the possession of Musk and xAI, the parties directly involved in the litigation. Attorneys representing Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have declined to provide further public comment on the ongoing proceedings.
The underlying lawsuit was initiated by Elon Musk, who alleges OpenAI breached its founding contractual agreements by pivoting to a for-profit model. OpenAI’s subsequent countersuit characterizes Musk’s acquisition attempt as a “sham bid” intended to disrupt its operations and cites a pattern of defamatory attacks launched by Musk across social media and press platforms.
As the legal battle intensifies, CWEB Business News will continue to monitor the case, which pits three of the most influential figures in technology against one another in a high-stakes dispute over the future of AI.
