Marc Toberoff, an attorney for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, sent a letter to the attorneys general of California and Delaware on Tuesday calling on the two U.S. states to force OpenAI to auction off a significant stake in its business.

Toberoff said he was writing on behalf of large AI investors who want to participate in a public competitive bidding process for OpenAI shares.

The move began with lawsuits initiated by Musk over the past year against OpenAI's attempts to restructure itself from a nonprofit organization to a for-profit company.

An OpenAI spokesperson responded in a statement, "Elon is engaging in lawfare. We remain focused on our mission and work."