Trial Reveals Musk's 2018 Power Play: Attempted to Absorb OpenAI Founders Into Tesla, Court Documents Show

Court filings in the high-stakes legal battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI have exposed a critical negotiation in 2018, during which Musk proposed bringing OpenAI's founding team—including Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever—into Tesla to lead a new artificial intelligence laboratory. The disclosures, presented as evidence in the trial, reveal the extent of internal disagreement over who should control OpenAI and shape its direction at a pivotal moment in the organization's history.

According to the evidence presented, Musk—who co-founded the nonprofit AI research group—made multiple proposals to integrate OpenAI's leadership into his electric vehicle company. These included appointing Altman to Tesla's board or restructuring OpenAI as a Tesla subsidiary. OpenAI's founders ultimately rejected these overtures, a decision that deepened existing fractures within the organization and set the stage for the commercial transformation Musk now challenges in court. The trial has centered on Musk's allegation that Altman improperly converted the nonprofit into a for-profit entity, effectively stealing what Musk describes as "a charity."

OpenAI's legal representatives have countered that Musk himself was not opposed to commercialization, provided he retained operational control. The case has brought renewed scrutiny to the governance structure of AI organizations, the fiduciary responsibilities of nonprofit boards, and the tensions that arise when ambitious research initiatives intersect with corporate interests. Sutskever, now a central figure in OpenAI's ongoing leadership crisis, reportedly expressed reservations about the Tesla integration due to potential conflicts of interest. The trial continues to unfold as both sides present competing narratives about OpenAI's founding mission and the circumstances of its restructuring.