Elon Musk tried to recruit Sam Altman to Tesla and absorb OpenAI
Updated
Updated · WIRED · May 6
Elon Musk tried to recruit Sam Altman to Tesla and absorb OpenAI
15 articles · Updated · WIRED · May 6
At Wednesday's federal trial, emails showed Musk offered Altman a Tesla board seat in 2017-18 and explored a Tesla AI lab launch at NeurIPS.
Shivon Zilis testified Altman never joined, the lab and event never happened, and Musk also recruited Andrej Karpathy, evidence OpenAI says contradicts Musk's earlier jury testimony.
Musk alleges Altman and Greg Brockman turned his $38 million nonprofit investment into a private company now valued above $800 billion, while OpenAI argues Musk was upset after failing to control it.
Was Musk's lawsuit sparked by a betrayed mission or regret over OpenAI's success after his failed takeover?
As billionaire founders clash in court, who is protecting humanity's interest in the race to build AGI?
Was the Tesla board offer a genuine gesture or a strategic move in Musk's 2017 power play for OpenAI?