
Elon Musk's attempts to recruit Sam Altman to Tesla have been revealed in the ongoing Musk v. Altman trial. Musk offered Altman a Tesla board seat to join a proposed AI lab within the company, aiming to rival Google DeepMind. Despite these efforts, Altman did not join Tesla, and the AI lab never came to fruition. The trial highlights Musk's ambitions to integrate OpenAI into Tesla and his rivalry with the AI research organization.
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© TechCrunch AIxAI's attempt to dismiss the NAACP's Clean Air Act lawsuit failed after a federal judge ruled that its gas turbines are not exempt mobile sources and that plaintiffs have standing. This legal setback confirms that AI infrastructure operators cannot bypass environmental permitting by classifying heavy industrial equipment as temporary or mobile. The ruling forces xAI to face scrutiny over air quality impacts at its Colossus data center, setting a precedent for how large-scale compute facilities are regulated under existing environmental laws.
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OpenAI is scaling back its ambitions as investor appetite for massive AI infrastructure bets cools. The company has lowered its fundraising target from $30 billion to $20 billion, with only $11 billion secured so far against a valuation that has dropped from $1.4 trillion. This retreat signals a growing wariness among Wall Street investors regarding the capital intensity of the AI race, forcing even the most dominant players to adjust their financial expectations.