They are already embroiled in a lawsuit as Mr Musk sued both OpenAI and Mr Altman last year, accusing them of breaching a contract by pivoting towards profit, arguing OpenAI was going back on its pledge to develop AI carefully and make it freely available.
Elon Musk launches $97bn bid to buy ChatGPT-maker OpenAI A group led by Elon Musk has made a $97.4bn (£78.7bn) bid to buy OpenAI just months after the X owner sued the artificial intelligence start-up.
Mr Musk and OpenAI lawyers faced off in a California federal court last week as a judge weighed up whether to back the X owner's request for a court order that would block the company from becoming a for-profit entity.
The offer is being backed by Mr Musk's rival artificial intelligence company xAI, which could merge with OpenAI following a deal, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the bid.
Mr Musk's offer appears to have escalated longstanding tensions with his former colleague Mr Altman, who posted on X: "no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.".
