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Musk wanted to poach OpenAI's leadership for Tesla, trial reveals
07 May 2026

Testimony from the ongoing legal battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI has revealed that Musk once tried to bring OpenAI's leadership into Tesla.

The tech mogul had proposed several radical ideas in 2018, including making OpenAI a subsidiary of Tesla or hiring its top executives for a new AI division at his electric car company.

Musk's concerns about OpenAI's AGI capabilities
Doubts raised

The court testimony and internal communications presented on Wednesday show Musk had serious doubts about OpenAI's ability to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI).

This theoretical form of AI is capable of matching or exceeding human intelligence.

As his concerns grew, Musk started looking for alternatives, including bringing in Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever from OpenAI into Tesla.

Consideration to hire AI experts outside of Tesla
Alternative strategies

Along with the idea of bringing OpenAI's top brass into Tesla, Musk also considered hiring Demis Hassabis to lead Tesla's AI ambitions.

These disclosures are key to Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI. He accuses its leadership of abandoning the organization's original charitable mission by turning it into a profit-driven company.

However, OpenAI argues that Musk himself supported commercialization as long as he had control over it.

Competing with Google DeepMind and Meta's AI efforts
Frustration expressed

The messages shown in court also show Musk's frustration with OpenAI's trajectory.

In a conversation with tech executive Shivon Zilis, he wrote: "There is little chance of OpenAI being a successful force if I focus on TeslaAI."

Zilis testified that there were talks about creating a world-class AI lab within Tesla to compete with Google DeepMind and Meta's AI research efforts.

OpenAI leadership not keen on collaborating with Musk
Unconvinced stance

Despite Musk's proposals, OpenAI's leadership was not convinced.

In an email presented during the trial, Zilis told Musk's then-chief of staff that OpenAI executives admired him personally but were concerned about his understanding of artificial intelligence.

"They all think Elon is an incredible human being," she wrote, "but that he really hasn't done his homework AI/AGI, and that really concerns them about working with him."

Trial exposes the rift between Musk and OpenAI
Departure details

The divide between Musk and OpenAI became irreparable, leading to his exit from the organization. The company later adopted its controversial capped-profit structure.

The trial has now become a public examination of personal and ideological differences behind one of the world's most influential AI companies.

OpenAI attorney William Savitt argued in court that Musk was willing to support a for-profit model if it gave him authority over technology.