Trial evidence reveals musk's 2018 efforts to hire openai founders

May 07, 2026

New documents presented in the Musk v. Altman trial show Elon Musk proposed bringing OpenAI leaders including Sam Altman to Tesla in 2018. The evidence highlights Musk's push for control over the AI lab's direction at the time.

Emails and testimony from the ongoing trial in Oakland detail Musk's plans to integrate OpenAI into Tesla or appoint Altman to its board. Musk expressed doubts about the nonprofit's ability to achieve artificial general intelligence without his involvement, according to messages shared in court on Wednesday.

ሰዎች ምን እያሉ ነው

X discussions focus on trial updates showing Musk's 2018 recruitment efforts for OpenAI founders like Altman and Karpathy to Tesla's AI lab, with users sharing court documents and Zilis testimony; reactions range from neutral fact-sharing by journalists to skepticism on control motives.

LIVE TRIAL UPDATE: Documents show that while still on OpenAI's board, Musk asked Andrej Karpathy to compile a list of OpenAI employees to recruit to Tesla. Greg Brockman had no idea.

Zilis in texts at the time: "I talked to Greg today and he clearly had no idea."

— MTS (@MTSlive) 6 ሜይ 2026

New: Musk was cross-examined by OpenAI's lawyers in federal court today. They pressed him on all the ways he squeezed OpenAI over a power struggle in 2017, including by hiring away talent and cutting off funding.

Here's an email Musk sent about hiring Andrej Karpathy. pic.twitter.com/BkRVNN8ENP

— Max Zeff (@ZeffMax) 30 ኤፕሪል 2026

LIVE TRIAL UPDATE: Brockman testifies Musk secretly recruited Andrej Karpathy to run Tesla Autopilot, telling OpenAI the move would generate donations for the nonprofit. The departure forced OpenAI to conduct a layoff of 5-10 employees.

— MTS (@MTSlive) 5 ሜይ 2026

NEWS: Elon wanted to poach Sam Altman to Tesla. Altman said maybe, but ultimately passed, Shivon Zilis testified.

Plaintiff's counsel Jennifer Schubert questioned Zilis on a 2018 draft document outlining Tesla's AI strategy and Musk's plan to recruit OpenAI cofounders to build… https://t.co/rF1MPqxJ0j pic.twitter.com/Mta6VXtMCl

— Muskonomy (@muskonomy) 7 ሜይ 2026

Ex-OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis, who has four children with Elon Musk, took the stand in a California federal jury trial Wednesday over Musk's challenge to OpenAI's for-profit conversion, defending her role as an intermediary between Musk and other OpenAI founders.…

— Law360 (@Law360) 7 ሜይ 2026

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