Microsoft has offered to match the pay of any staff who join it from crisis-ridden OpenAI.

Axar.az reports that Sam Altman was controversially sacked as CEO on Friday, leading to a job offer at Microsoft to lead "a new advanced AI research team".

Almost every staff member at OpenAI has threatened to leave unless he and co-founder Greg Brockman are reinstated.

It is still unclear whether Mr Altman will ultimately join Microsoft, which is OpenAI's biggest investor by far.

Evan Morikawa, an engagement manager at OpenAI, has claimed that 743 out of 770 employees at OpenAI have signed a letter calling on the board to resign - with staff themselves threatening to leave if their demands are not met.

In their letter they claim they had been offered jobs at Microsoft - something the tech giant's chief technical officer Kevin Scott has now confirmed, telling staff that "if needed" they will be hired by Microsoft in a role that "matches your compensation".

The uncertainty about people's futures extend to Mr Altman, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella telling CNBC that he might not be joining, adding he was "committed to OpenAI and Sam, irrespective of what configuration".

"Obviously that depends on the people at OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft, so I'm open to both options," he said.