Elon Musk stated that his involvement in the creation of OpenAI unintentionally accelerated the artificial intelligence race, contrary to his original intentions. During an interview with Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor in chief of The Economist, Musk explained that he aimed to establish OpenAI as a counterweight to Google, which he viewed as having a monopoly on AI technology.
Musk noted that the spin-out of Anthropic from OpenAI has contributed to this acceleration. He remarked, “In creating OpenAI and then having Anthropic spin out of that, and now currently Anthropics is leader in AI, I mean, these actions have actually resulted in knock-on effects that accelerated AI, which wasn’t really my intention.”
He further emphasized that the trajectory seems to lead to an acceleration of AI development. Musk has been critical of OpenAI’s transition from a nonprofit organization to a for-profit entity, expressing his concerns through a lawsuit against OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman, and others, seeking $150 billion in damages. Musk alleges that OpenAI has abandoned its founding mission.
A federal judge dismissed Musk’s claims in May, citing a statute of limitations, and Musk intends to appeal this ruling. In the interview, he also discussed the circumstances surrounding Anthropic’s formation, indicating that the team left OpenAI due to a lack of trust in Altman. Musk asserted, “The reason the Anthropic team left OpenAI is because they didn’t trust Sam Altman — otherwise Anthropic wouldn’t exist. They would still be at OpenAI.”
Despite his disputes with Altman and other leaders in the AI sector, Musk advocated for collaboration among companies on safety measures. He suggested that competitors could benefit from a review period for new models, stating, “The competitors, I think, can, you know, if given sort of a week or two to review a new model, can highlight issues.”
Musk concluded that if a company fails to address significant risks identified during such reviews, it would warrant government intervention.
