Elon Musk attempted to enlist Mark Zuckerberg in his near-$100bn bid to take control of OpenAI this year, according to a court filing, in what would have been a rare alliance between two billionaires who have previously challenged each other to a “cage fight”.

In response to legal questioning, Musk told OpenAI he had communicated with the Meta chief executive about potentially helping to finance a $97.4bn bid for the ChatGPT maker in February, the filing said. Neither Zuckerberg nor Meta signed a letter of intent to join, according to the filing.

Any potential partnership between Musk and Zuckerberg would stand in stark contrast to previous interactions in 2023, when the pair taunted each other online, going as far as trying to arrange a physical fight, after Zuckerberg launched Threads as a rival to Musk’s X.Có thể là hình ảnh về 2 người và văn bản cho biết 'Elon Musk tried to to enlist Mark Zuckerberg in his $100bn bid for OpenAI'

Meta and OpenAI declined to comment. Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

The news comes as Musk, Zuckerberg and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have been locked in a battle for artificial intelligence talent, attempting to poach each other’s top researchers in the race to build the next generation of AI models.

Musk is a co-founder of OpenAI and invested tens of millions of dollars in the fledgling company before leaving its board in 2018 and starting his own group, xAI, in 2023.

In February, he made a bid for OpenAI, first by attempting to force an auction of the non-profit entity that ultimately controls the business, and then offering to buy it outright.

The bid had the backing of longtime Musk investors including Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital, 8VC and media executive Ari Emanuel, as well as Musk’s own company xAI.

It was rebuffed immediately by OpenAI and dismissed as a publicity stunt by people close to the company.

Musk has long criticised OpenAI’s attempt to convert to a for-profit company, saying it betrays the group’s founding mission. Last year, he launched a lawsuit to block the move.

OpenAI has since watered down those plans, leaving its non-profit board in control of a for-profit subsidiary.

In the court filing, part of Musk’s ongoing lawsuit, OpenAI called on the court to compel Meta to hand over documents related to the communications with Musk.

OpenAI also noted Meta had been “spending heavily” to develop its own AI capabilities, including offering pay packages of $100mn or more to leading researchers from OpenAI and elsewhere.

Meta asked the court to deny OpenAI’s request, noting the social network never joined the bid.

The Wolf-Krugman Exchange: AI hype vs reality