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- Elon Musk tried to take over OpenAI in 2018 but walked away after Sam Altman and other founders rejected the idea, Semafor reported.
- Musk was a founder and board member of OpenAI before he left in 2018, citing a conflict of interest with Tesla.
- Today, he's a vocal critic of OpenAI, saying its current form is "not what I intended at all."
When Elon Musk left the board of OpenAI in 2018, the stated reason was to avoid any potential conflict of interest with Tesla. A new report from Semafor points the finger elsewhere: a failed takeover attempt.