Elon Musk’s play for OpenAI was a desperate bid to save Tesla [Video]

We know that Elon Musk was very desperate back in 2018.

We know that Tesla was near death as it struggled to build the Model 3, the car that was supposed to be the company’s saving grace. We know that the development process was running late and over budget, so Musk needed capital.

What we did not know was that during this tumultuous period, Musk was also working on a deal to take over OpenAI, the artificial-intelligence startup that created ChatGPT and is now worth $86 billion. We did not know he’d suggested that OpenAI raise $1 billion, merge with Tesla, and name him CEO. And we did not know that he was selling this structure to OpenAI’s founders as their company’s last, best, and maybe only hope for survival.

But now, thanks to OpenAI’s present-day fight with Musk, we know these things. And it’s not hard to see how Musk’s two desires — saving Tesla and wresting control of Open …