Tesla (TSLA, Financials), the electric vehicle and technology company led by Elon Musk, was pulled back into the broader AI rivalry after Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman exchanged another round of personal attacks on X.
The argument followed Apple's lawsuit accusing OpenAI of misusing trade secrets. Musk quickly seized on the news and renewed his criticism of Altman.
Altman responded by pointing to Musk's plans for space-based data centers and suggested the renewed attention was tied to OpenAI's latest model release.
The two have been at odds for years over OpenAI's shift from a nonprofit research lab toward a more commercial structure. Musk helped start OpenAI in 2015 but later left the board and eventually sued the company.
The dispute now goes well beyond personality. Musk's companies are building their own AI tools, while OpenAI is pushing deeper into enterprise software, coding and consumer applications.
For investors, the public fight matters because it reflects a much larger competition for AI talent, users and capital.
The next focus will be Apple's case against OpenAI and how the two companies' newest AI models perform in the market.