AI news story

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

Musk was “prepared to do the for-profit, provided he would get control.”

  • LLMs
  • Source: Ars Technica
  • Published: 2026-05-07
  • Signal score: 5
  • 10 sources

Editor's take

Elon Musk reportedly attempted to recruit OpenAI's co-founders, including Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, to establish a dedicated artificial intelligence division within Tesla.

This maneuver underscores the intense competition for AI talent and leadership, particularly as hyperscalers and automotive giants like Tesla recognize the strategic imperative of in-house AI development beyond current automotive applications. Musk's desire for control highlights the tension between collaborative research and proprietary AI ambitions, a dynamic central to the evolution of foundational AI models.

Future developments to monitor include whether Tesla’s recent AI investments, such as its $500 million stake in xAI, represent a pivot away from such direct recruitment or a complementary strategy. The success of xAI in achieving its stated goals will also be a key indicator of Musk's long-term AI trajectory and his ability to attract top-tier talent to his ventures.

Signal score: 5

This event was corroborated by 10 independent sources. The signal score weighs cross-source corroboration, recency, source weight and topic salience. How we rank stories.

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