OpenAI once considered buying Cerebras, an AI hardware startup, aiming to secure chipmaking capabilities that would lessen its reliance on Nvidia, reports TechCrunch. Recent legal filings from Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI reveal discussions between Musk, OpenAI executives, and Tesla about acquiring Cerebras, though the plan ultimately did not proceed.
The discussions originated with Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder of OpenAI, who suggested in 2017 that Tesla could be the acquisition vehicle for Cerebras. Sutskever noted that buying Cerebras through Tesla could create a conflict since Tesla's duty to maximize shareholder profit might not align with OpenAI's nonprofit-driven mission. His idea sparked further consideration, but ultimately the acquisition was shelved.
