Cage match on hold: For once, Musk and Zuckerberg are on the same side of a fight

Thanks to AI, Zuck and Musk are unlikely allies

12/16/24 11:13AM

In June 2023, Elon Musk tweeted that he was “up for a cage match” with Mark Zuckerberg, and Zuck accepted the challenge, posting “send me location” in an Instagram story.

I’m up for a cage match if he is lol
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2023

A year and a half later, while the two billionaires still haven’t fought in the octagon, they have formed an unlikely alliance against a common competitor: OpenAI. Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta is urging California’s attorney general to block OpenAI’s conversion to a for-profit entity, following in Tesla CEO Musk’s footsteps. Musk, an OpenAI founder, previously sued OpenAI for bailing on its nonprofit mission, though OpenAI posted a lengthy statement last week saying Musk wanted OpenAI to be for-profit from the start.

The Journal reported that Meta said in a letter to AG Rob Bonta that allowing OpenAI to become a for-profit company would set a dangerous precedent by letting the “non-profit” investors benefit from tax write-offs until the company was ready to go public:

“If OpenAI’s new business model is valid, non-profit investors would get the same for-profit upside as those who invest the conventional way in for-profit companies while also benefiting from tax write-offs bestowed by the government.”

Of course beyond the skewed incentive structure that might be encouraged by allowing a nonprofit to convert to a for-profit, Meta has another reason for wanting this deal blocked: OpenAI is one of its biggest AI competitors. Meta has led the charge with open-sourcing AI through its Llama models. Meanwhile, Musk’s xAI has raised $12 billion to buy GPUs and compete with OpenAI as well.

OpenAI raised $6.6 billion in October, valuing the company at $157 billion, but this fundraise was contingent on the company converting to a for-profit entity. California blocking this move would be a huge blow to the ChatGPT creator and benefit Zuckerberg and Musk’s AI ambitions.

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JetBlue is raising its bag fees as fuel costs squeeze airlines

JetBlue will reportedly hike its bag fees, as the cost of jet fuel continues to climb amid the war in Iran. It’s the latest example of carriers finding ways to push rising costs onto travelers.

Last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that if fuel prices remain elevated, fares would need to rise another 20% for his airline to break even this year.

As CNBC reported, when one airline raises fees, others tend to follow.

Earlier this month, JetBlue hiked its first-quarter outlook for operating revenue per seat mile to between 5% and 7%, saying that strong Q1 demand helped “partially offset additional expenses realized from operational disruptions and rising fuel costs.” Now, the carrier appears to be making moves to further boost revenue to offset those costs.

Earlier on Monday, JetBlue rival Alaska Air lowered its Q1 profit forecast. The refining margins for the carrier’s cheapest fuel option — sourced from Singapore and representing about 20% of Alaska’s overall supply — have spiked 400% since February.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.