At His OpenAI Trial, Musk Relitigates Falling Out With Google's Larry Page Over AI Safety
Key Takeaways
- ▸Musk testified that his falling out with Larry Page over AI safety—specifically Page's dismissal of existential AI risks—was a core motivation for founding OpenAI
- ▸The two were once close friends, with Musk regularly staying at Page's Palo Alto home and Page previously stating he'd rather give his money to Musk than to charity
- ▸Their friendship broke down in 2015 when Musk recruited Ilya Sutskever from Google to co-found OpenAI, which Page reportedly experienced as a personal betrayal
Summary
During testimony in his lawsuit against OpenAI, Elon Musk revealed that a core motivation for co-founding the company was a falling out with Google CEO Larry Page over AI safety concerns. Musk claimed that when he raised the prospect of AI wiping out humanity, Page dismissed the concern as "fine" as long as AI itself survived, and called Musk a "speciest" for being "pro-human." The two were once close friends—so close that Musk regularly stayed at Page's Palo Alto home and Page had told Charlie Rose he'd rather give his money to Musk than to charity.
Their friendship deteriorated in 2015 when Musk recruited Google AI researcher Ilya Sutskever to help launch OpenAI, which Page reportedly felt was a personal betrayal. While Musk has previously shared this narrative publicly and with biographer Walter Isaacson, Tuesday's courtroom testimony marks the first time he made these claims under oath. As recently as 2023, Musk told podcaster Lex Fridman that he wanted to patch things up with Page, saying they "were friends for a very long time."
- This is the first time Musk has made these claims under oath, though he has previously shared the narrative publicly and with biographer Walter Isaacson
