Elon Musk contemplated a Tesla board seat for Sam Altman
During the trial concerning the dispute between the two prominent figures in artificial intelligence, jurors were informed that Elon Musk had at one time contemplated bringing Sam Altman onto Tesla Inc.’s board of directors. Shivon Zilis stated, “there was a time where that was on the table” in late 2017. Musk and his fellow OpenAI co-founders were engaged in negotiations regarding the future of the AI nonprofit, focusing on strategies to secure sufficient funding to address their computing requirements. In the course of those discussions, Musk proposed the transformation of OpenAI into a subsidiary of Tesla, the electric vehicle enterprise, where he contemplated establishing an AI laboratory. “Do you remember whether Mr. Musk proposed or talked about providing Mr. Altman a position on Tesla’s board?” During the ongoing trial, which has entered its second week in federal court located in Oakland, California, OpenAI attorney Sarah Eddy posed questions to Zilis.
“I do,” Zilis stated, noting that she was unable to recall the precise time frame. Zilis, an executive at Neuralink, Musk’s brain-implant company, is also the mother of four of his children. William Savitt informed outside the courthouse that there exists “documentary evidence” indicating Musk attempted to include Altman on the board in a “effort to co-opt open AI and absorb it into Tesla.” And “It was in the nature of a blandishment, an inducement, to try to get Altman to abandon the mission and be part of Tesla,” Savitt stated. “When it failed to yield results, he departed.” The trial represents the culmination of years of animosity and public disputes surrounding the startup co-founded by Musk, Altman, Greg Brockman, and others in 2015, prior to the deterioration of their relationship and the emergence of rivalry. Musk has alleged that Altman and Brockman have compromised the nonprofit’s original mission to serve humanity, instead opting to transform it into a for-profit entity, thereby securing substantial investments from Microsoft Corp.
OpenAI and Microsoft have refuted the allegations, contending that Musk’s underlying intention is to undermine a rival to his own venture, xAI, which was established in 2023, five years subsequent to his departure from OpenAI’s board. Eddy presented Zilis with an email she composed in 2017 regarding an event intended to announce the establishment of an AI lab at Tesla — a project she indicated was being contemplated but “never got legs.” The email contained a FAQ regarding the event, which noted: “Those who want to work on large scale AI research don’t currently think of Tesla.” Elon aims to address this by declaring his plan to establish a world-class AI laboratory.
“In early 2018, Mr. Musk endeavored to convince his co-founders to align with Tesla and advance AGI within the company, did he not?” Eddy inquired, alluding to artificial general intelligence. “That would have been an idea on the table then,” Zilis stated. “I cannot remember if it was also in 2017.” I simply do not recall the precise time frame. Last week, Musk testified that he began to lose confidence in Brockman and Altman around 2017 during negotiations concerning OpenAI’s future — especially as they resisted his proposal to establish a for-profit business and assume control of it. He served as the largest financial supporter during that period. Musk encountered inquiries regarding whether his attempts to attract talent from OpenAI for Tesla constituted a breach of his fiduciary responsibility to the creator of ChatGPT.
