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Meta and X CEOs unite to challenge Sam Altman’s OpenAI in its bid to go for-profit. Meta spent $37 billion on AI in 2024, while X Musk’s xAI secured $5 billion in financing.
(Credit: Mandel NGAN and Alain JOCARD / AFP), OpenAI’s
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has declared a truce in his feud with Elon Musk. The two tech moguls have united against a common enemy: Sam Altman’s OpenAI, the leader in artificial intelligence. In a Friday letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Meta asked him to try to block OpenAI conversion into a for-profit. It accused AI of exploiting its nonprofit origins to secure billions of dollars in funding, including investments that pushed its valuation to $157 billion.
A decade-long rivalry hit pause
Zuckerberg and Musk have long disagreed on strategy for AI and social media, but setting that aside from the beef Friday, they found common ground opposing the OpenAI shift. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2025 but left in 2018 when he became convinced it had moved away from its original mission of finding ways to benefit humanity.
Musk has more recently sought a court injunction to block OpenAI’s for-profit plans, accusing the company – and Microsoft – of creating a monopoly undercutting competitors, including his own AI startup, xAI.
OpenAI responded with a blog post titled “Elon Musk Wanted an OpenAI for-Profit” to refute the claims, using internal emails.
The Stakes Are High
The transition of OpenAI to for-profit demands that the company raise even more capital if it desires to maintain the lead in the race for AI. Similarly, Meta has been investing big time in AI and is planning to invest $37 billion in infrastructure this year. Musk’s xAI has been granted $5 billion to challenge the reign of OpenAI, among others.
Conclusion
For now, it is a marriage of convenience: Zuckerberg and Musk are standing on the same page to block AI from shifting models; whether this axis will continue for long remains anybody’s guess.
