Court documents filed April 24 in the Musk v. Altman lawsuit reveal that Valve founder Gabe Newell emailed Elon Musk in October 2018 asking if game designer Hideo Kojima could tour SpaceX's rocket factory. The email became public as part of exhibit evidence in the ongoing trial in Oakland, California, where Musk is suing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the company's shift from nonprofit to for-profit.

In the email, Newell wrote that Kojima had just visited Valve headquarters. "Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear series, a real visionary in our field) was here at Valve talking about his new game, and he mentioned the importance he places on future work in AI," Newell told Musk. "The second thing is he was talking about how much he wants to go into space, and I offered to introduce him to you. He'd love to get a SpaceX tour."

Musk responded positively. "Sure, it would be great to meet Hideo Kojima and he's welcome to see the rocket factory," Musk wrote back. "No problem to send him my email." Despite the positive response, there's no public record confirming Kojima ever received the tour.

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Why the Email Was Released in the Lawsuit

The October 2018 email appears in court exhibits because Newell also discussed introducing Kojima to OpenAI, and Musk's response included statements about the AI company that lawyers are referencing in the trial.

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