Elon Musk took the stand Tuesday in his lawsuit against OpenAI, offering sworn testimony about a personal falling-out with Google co-founder Larry Page that he says was a key motivation for co-founding the AI company in 2015.
Musk testified that a conversation with Page about AI safety drove a wedge between the two. According to Musk, when he raised the possibility of AI wiping out humanity, Page dismissed the concern as “fine” as long as AI itself survived. Page reportedly called Musk a “speciest” for being “pro human.” Musk described the attitude as “insane.”
The rift deepened when Musk recruited Google AI researcher Ilya Sutskever to help launch OpenAI. Page felt personally betrayed by the move and cut off contact with Musk entirely.
The break was notable given the depth of the prior relationship. Fortune included the two on its 2016 list of secretly best-friend business leaders. Musk regularly stayed at Page’s Palo Alto home, and Page once told Charlie Rose he would rather give his money to Musk than to charity.
Musk has told this story before — including to author Walter Isaacson for his biography of Musk — but Tuesday marked the first time he recounted it under oath. Page has not commented publicly on the claims. As recently as 2023, Musk told podcaster Lex Fridman he hoped to repair the relationship, saying, “We were friends for a very long time.”
The testimony came as part of Musk’s broader lawsuit against OpenAI, in which he alleges the organization strayed from its original charitable mission. While the friendship narrative adds personal context to that case, all of Musk’s statements were made in service of ongoing litigation.
Source: TechCrunch