In a surprising turn of events, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that he reached out to Elon Musk with a friendly text message after learning about the Tesla CEO's lawsuit against him and the company. Altman shared this during an interview with tech journalist Kara Swisher at City Arts & Lectures.

Altman described his text as "something trivial," suggesting it was a lighthearted message intended to diffuse the tensions caused by Musk's legal action. When pressed if the text was along the lines of "WTF?," Altman admitted it was a bit nicer than that, though he couldn't recall the exact wording.

In addition to the text, Altman and Musk engaged in a playful exchange of emojis. However, representatives for both Altman and Musk have yet to provide any official comments on the matter.

Earlier this year, Musk filed a lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI, accusing them of breaching their "founding agreement" and jeopardizing the company's nonprofit mission of benefiting humanity through its Microsoft partnership. Musk demanded that OpenAI make its research and technology open-source, cut off Microsoft's access to GPT-4, and prevent Altman and Microsoft from profiting from the company.

Although Musk was one of the cofounders of OpenAI alongside Altman, he left the board of directors three years later, citing a conflict of interest with his AI efforts at Tesla. Since then, Musk has openly criticized Altman and OpenAI on multiple occasions. In response, Altman has remained diplomatic, expressing his understanding of Musk's concerns about AI safety while urging him to acknowledge OpenAI's efforts in addressing these concerns.

In an attempt to counter Musk's lawsuit, OpenAI's legal team recently filed a public document branding Musk's claims as "frivolous" and "incoherent." They argued that the lawsuit stemmed from Musk's envy of OpenAI's success following his departure from the company. Additionally, Altman released emails that contradicted some of Musk's public statements about OpenAI, further fueling the legal battle.

This ongoing feud between two prominent figures in the AI industry has garnered significant attention, with stakeholders eagerly anticipating the resolution of the lawsuit and the implications it may have for the future of OpenAI and its collaboration with Microsoft.

While Altman expressed a sense of nostalgia for the "old Elon" and his admiration for Musk's previous accomplishments, it remains uncertain how this friendly exchange of messages and emojis will influence the lawsuit and the overall relationship between the two AI powerhouses.

As the legal proceedings continue, the tech world watches closely to see how this clash of titans pans out and its impact on the landscape of AI research and development.