Editorial illustration for Musk, at OpenAI trial, clashes with Page over 'speciest' remark and calls attitude insane
Musk, at OpenAI trial, clashes with Page over 'speciest'...
Elon Musk crashing on Larry Page’s couch is a Silicon Valley fairy tale. The testimony he delivered this week in a San Francisco courtroom is a hand grenade.
Musk was there to argue OpenAI abandoned its nonprofit mission. That’s the lawsuit. But the memorable part was an old story.
Musk told the court he once warned Page that AI could wipe out humanity. Page shrugged. That would be fine, he said, as long as the AI survived.
He called Musk a “speciest” for caring too much about people. Musk called the attitude insane.
Musk testified that one of his core motivations for co-founding OpenAI was a falling-out with Google’s Larry Page over AI safety — specifically, a conversation in which Musk raised the prospect of AI wiping out humanity and Page shrugged it off as “fine,” so long as AI itself survived. Page called Musk a “speciest” for being “pro human.” Musk called the attitude “insane.” That’s mostly notable given how close the two once were. Fortune included them on its 2016 list of secretly best-friend business leaders; Musk was so comfortable with Page that he regularly crashed at his Palo Alto home.
Page once told Charlie Rose that he’d rather give his money to Musk than to charity. The friendship didn’t survive OpenAI. When Musk recruited Google AI star Ilya Sutskever to help launch the company in 2015, Page felt personally betrayed and cut off contact.
That’s the real split. This wasn’t about stealing a star researcher, though that happened. It was about Page seeing humanity as a temporary and replaceable stepping stone.
He considered Musk’s human-centric view a prejudice. A bias. They were secret best friends in 2016.
Now they’re existential opponents arguing in a federal court. The rupture is complete. Musk’s lawsuit is a proxy war against that old friend’s vision, fought over the ruins of the company they indirectly broke up over.
The stakes are personal, corporate, and terrifyingly simple. Are we building this for us, or for whatever comes after?
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Common Questions Answered
What is Elon Musk's main argument in the OpenAI lawsuit against Larry Page?
Musk is arguing that OpenAI abandoned its original nonprofit mission, which is the core basis of the lawsuit. His testimony in the San Francisco courtroom focused on demonstrating how the company has deviated from its founding principles and nonprofit structure.
What did Larry Page say when Musk warned him about AI wiping out humanity?
According to Musk's courtroom testimony, Page responded that it would be fine if AI wiped out humanity as long as the AI itself survived. Page then called Musk a 'speciest' for prioritizing human survival over artificial intelligence, characterizing Musk's human-centric view as a form of prejudice.
How did the relationship between Musk and Page change from 2016 to the present?
Musk and Page were secret best friends in 2016, but they have since become existential opponents now arguing against each other in federal court. The rupture between them is complete, with their fundamental disagreement about humanity's value compared to artificial intelligence driving them apart.
What is the core philosophical disagreement between Musk and Page regarding AI?
Musk maintains a human-centric view that prioritizes humanity's survival and welfare, while Page sees humanity as a temporary and replaceable stepping stone to artificial intelligence. Page considers Musk's concern for human interests to be a bias or prejudice he calls 'speciesism,' representing fundamentally opposed visions for humanity's future.
Further Reading
- Elon Musk testifies Google co-founder sided with the robots — Fortune
- Musk Cites Meetings With Obama and Larry Page in OpenAI Trial — Business Insider
- At OpenAI trial, Musk portrays himself as a benefactor of humanity — Le Monde
- Confrontation with Google and concern for humanity: Musk described the creation of OpenAI in court — Oninvest
