Zuckerberg Offers DOGE Assistance, Floats Joint Bid For OpenAI IP

Private texts released in Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit reveal Zuckerberg offering to help the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and floating a joint bid for OpenAI’s IP, signaling a dramatic shift from public feuding toward collaboration.

“- New documents were released in Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI”

Business Insider

Zuckerberg texted, 'Looks like DOGE is making progress. I’ve got our teams on alert to take down content doxxing or threatening the people on your team. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.'

Business Insider

Musk answered with a heart, then pressed the OpenAI IP question: 'Are you open to the idea of bidding on the OpenAI IP with me and some others?'

Zuckerberg signaled a live discussion to follow up: 'Want to discuss it live?'

The exchange also lays out a concrete, if untested, plan: fuse DOGE’s institutional leverage with Meta’s AI ambitions to bid on OpenAI’s IP.

Crucially, the plan is not realized: OpenAI filings indicate that 'Neither Zuckerberg nor Meta signed the LOI' regarding any financing arrangements or investments.

Engadget

Meanwhile, a Musk-led consortium submitted an unsolicited $97.4 billion bid to acquire OpenAI on February 10, 2025, a bid OpenAI publicly rejected.

OpenAI’s board formally rejected the bid in February 2025, underscoring the chasm between private talk and corporate action.

Beyond private texts, the development signals a broader strategic recalibration among Silicon Valley titans: Musk’s DOGE leverage intersecting with Zuckerberg’s AI ambitions could tilt who governs and monetizes OpenAI’s IP, and how tech policy is negotiated in Washington and beyond.

“A court filing just revealed that Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg texted in early 2025 about working together (yes, after years of public feuds)”

NewsBytes

The Tech Buzz frames DOGE’s power as spanning cloud contracts, AI safety standards, and digital governance, while Engadget notes the arc from public bravado to alignment with a political center.

Meta’s positioning as an open-source alternative to closed-model labs colors the calculus, and Asian outlets stress the cross-border resonance of any such alignment as OpenAI’s fate and Meta’s AI strategy intersect.

"The second Trump administration has reshuffled the power dynamics across tech. Musk's proximity to the White House through his DOGE role makes him arguably the most influential tech executive in government circles."

"In 2023, the two vowed to fight each other in a cage match... but by early 2025, they were cozying up to the newly-elected President Donald Trump."

Asian and non-Western outlets underscore the cross-border stakes of a Zuckerberg–Musk pivot: a potential collaboration around DOGE governance and OpenAI IP would extend American tech power into global AI governance debates and force OpenAI, Meta, and their rivals to recalibrate strategy in multiple jurisdictions.

NewsBytes frames the exchange as signaling a possible future where two corporate giants could actually work together, while The Times of India highlights the February 3, 2025 text, which shows Zuckerberg offering support and signaling live discussions.

TechCrunch

The Tech Buzz and Engadget stress that DOGE’s mandate could tilt cloud contracts and governance standards, not just fight over a single asset.

"This exchange hints at a new chapter where they might actually work together down the line."

"Musk invited Zuckerberg to join hands and buy OpenAI."

The practical takeaway is that this is not a done deal, and OpenAI remains the ultimate arbiter of asset ownership and governance.

“While the relationship between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg was once thorny enough that Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a cagefight, things had warmed up by the early days of the second Trump administration — at least according to court documents published Friday”

TechCrunch

OpenAI’s leadership publicly rejected Musk’s unsolicited bid, and Meta appears to have redirected its strategic focus toward talent and internal AI development rather than a hostile takeover of OpenAI.

The Tech Buzz

The LOI was never signed, and the private talks exist within a broader legal framework that continues to play out in court.

The ongoing legal saga keeps this drama in flux, with no guarantee of a concrete merger or asset transfer.