computer-science

Elon Musk tried to hire OpenAI founders to start AI unit inside Tesla

Ars Technica · May 7, 2026, 1:14 PM · Also reported by 4 other sources

Elon Musk tried to hire Open AI’s founding team, including Sam Altman, to lead a new AI lab within Tesla in 2018, as the AI start-up’s leaders grappled over who should control the company and its direction. Musk, a co-founder of the AI group, proposed bringing Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever to his carmaker, appointing Altman to the board or making Open AI a Tesla subsidiary, according to evidence in a high-stakes trial between the billionaire and the Chat GPT maker on Wednesday. The disclosures shed light on a crucial issue in the case, in which Musk has claimed that Altman “stole a charity” by converting the company into a for-profit. OpenAI’s lawyers have argued the Tesla chief executive was happy to commercialize the lab, provided that he remained in charge.Read full article Comments

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Elon Musk tried to hire OpenAI founders to start AI unit inside Tesla

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