Tea’s Hot Like everyone else in the tech industry, SpaceX, Tesla, and Twitter CEO Elon Musk has had a lot to say about OpenAI in recent weeks — as he probably should, considering that he was one of the firm’s original founders, launching the former non-profit back in 2015 alongside figures like Reid Hoffman, Ilya Sutskever and, among others, OpenAI’s current CEO, Sam Altman. And honestly, most of what Musk has had to say about the firm lately has been pretty fair. He’s taken to Twitter several times now to criticize the now-not-so-open-OpenAI for going back on its non-profit, open-source roots, a grievance that’s been widely echoed elsewhere within the industry. A valid complaint indeed. But apparently, Musk’s OpenAI woes might be a bit more complicated than an ideological battle between two former colleagues. According to a report from Semafor, sources familiar with the matter claim that before leaving the company in 2018, Musk, who believed that OpenAI had fallen woefully behind Google’s AI labs and needed major changes, actually tried to take over as company CEO. After an internal power struggle, they say the company’s board — Altman included — vetoed Musk’s proposal. And in response, sources say, Musk walked away completely. Check Please But the purported rift between Musk and Altman didn’t end when the SpaceX founder left. Per Semafor’s reporting, Musk’s departure — which at the time was publicly chalked up to a conflict of interest, with Musk claiming that there was too much competition between OpenAI and…Elon Musk Reportedly Tried to Take Over OpenAI Several Years Ago, But Failed