# Elon Musk tried to recruit Sam Altman to join a "world-class AI lab" within Tesla.

*genai · news · 2026-05-06 · WIRED*

## Key points

- Elon Musk tried to recruit Sam Altman to lead a Tesla AI lab in 2017-2018.
- Musk offered Altman a Tesla board seat and considered merging OpenAI’s mission into Tesla.
- Shivon Zilis testified Musk contacted Andrej Karpathy about joining Tesla, contradicting Musk's previous statements.
- Internal emails reveal Tesla planned a stealth AI unit to counter Google DeepMind, targeting leaders like Demis Hassabis.
- Zilis did not disclose her IVF pregnancy with Musk's children to the OpenAI board due to a confidentiality agreement.

**Companies:** Tesla, OpenAI
**Countries:** United States

[Read the full story on WIRED](https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-recruit-sam-altman-tesla-ai-lab-trial/)

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