San Francisco, California - Elon Musk is reportedly leading an investment group offering $97.4 billion to take over OpenAI, marking the opening of a new front in his war with the ChatGPT-maker.

Musk attorney Marc Toberoff said he submitted the bid to OpenAI's board of directors, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"No thank you, but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want," OpenAI chief Sam Altman wrote in a post on X, apparently responding to the offer.

Musk, who bought X – then Twitter – for $44 billion in 2022, replied to the post by simply writing: "Swindler."

Celebrities Chappell Roan suffers cheeky wardrobe malfunction – and fans love it!

Musk's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Tesla boss has been mired in an ongoing legal feud with Altman.

Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, with the company becoming the world's leading AI startup since he left in 2018. He launched his own generative AI startup, xAI, in 2023.

"We created a bespoke structure: a for-profit, controlled by the non-profit, with a capped profit share for investors and employees," OpenAI said in a December blog post that outlined a plan to become a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation.

The shift would require the company to balance the interests of shareholders, stakeholders, and the public in a tilt away from non-profit, according to the post.

In January, President Donald Trump, who has given Musk immense power in his new administration, announced a major investment to build infrastructure for AI led by Japanese giant Softbank, cloud giant Oracle, and OpenAI.

The venture, called Stargate, "will invest $500 billion, at least, in AI infrastructure in the United States," Trump said in remarks at the White House.

But Musk was quick to cast doubt on the project, saying the money promised for the investment actually was not there.