Elon Musk and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) have become embroiled in a battle over Twitter’s relationship with Microsoft’s advertising platform. In early trading today, MSFT stock is falling 1%.

The Details of the Conflict

Twitter, owned by Musk, who recently renamed the platform’s parent company to X Corp., plans to begin billing large companies like Microsoft for accessing Twitter’s application programming interface (API). MSFT likely uses the API to facilitate its Smart Campaigns software, which makes it easier for marketers to advertise on Twitter.

Probably in response to Musk’s move, Microsoft decided to stop helping companies advertise on Twitter as of April 25. As a result, Musk is now threatening to sue Microsoft, accusing the company of “illegally using Twitter data.”

Musk declined to elaborate further on this allegation.

The AI Issue

The looming artificial intelligence battle between Musk and Microsoft may be contributing to the ill will between them.

Microsoft plans to invest $10 billion in OpenAI, which launched the popular ChatGPT chatbot. MSFT is already incorporating OpenAI’s bot in many of its products.

Musk recently said that he would launch his own AI platform called TruthGPT. He also accused MSFT of “training [its] AI to lie” and tweeted: “The danger of training AI to be woke – in other words, lie – is deadly.”

The multi-billionaire has launched a company called X.Ai, which is incorporated in Nevada.

The Performance of MSFT Stock

In the last three months, heading into today, MSFT shares have climbed 25%, and in 2023, they have climbed 20%.

However, in the last year, they have added 2.7%.

On the date of publication, Larry Ramer did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.