Musk Sought to Absorb OpenAI Into Tesla Before Leaving Board in 2018

Court documents presented in the ongoing Musk v. Altman trial reveal that in 2017, Elon Musk proposed merging OpenAI entirely into Tesla and demanded majority equity and full control. When OpenAI's leadership rejected the restructuring plan, negotiations collapsed. Musk departed the board in February 2018, claiming OpenAI faced "certain failure" without the merger. The disclosure exposes his strategic ambitions to consolidate AI research under Tesla's umbrella at the organization's formative moment.