ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Musk's 2017 Plan to Recruit Altman for Tesla AI Lab Revealed

ai-technology · 2026-05-07

Messages between Shivon Zilis and Tesla executives, disclosed in court, reveal a 2017 plan to establish a rival AI lab potentially led by Sam Altman or Demis Hassabis. The effort aimed to control OpenAI's trajectory.

Key facts

  • Messages between Shivon Zilis and Tesla executives in 2017
  • Plan to start a rival AI lab
  • Potential leaders included Sam Altman or Demis Hassabis
  • Elon Musk involved in the effort
  • Revealed in court documents
  • Aimed to control OpenAI

Entities

Institutions

  • Tesla
  • OpenAI

Sources