Elon Musk reveals founding OpenAI accidentally accelerated AI race
Musk admits OpenAI's creation had unintended consequences
Elon Musk confessed helping create OpenAI ended up accelerating the artificial intelligence race, even though that was never his goal.
Speaking to The Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes, the xAI founder said he originally backed OpenAI to serve as "a counterweight to Google," which he believed had a near-monopoly on AI research at the time.
"In creating OpenAI and then having Anthropic spin out of that... these actions have actually resulted in knock-on effects that accelerated AI, which wasn't really my intention," Musk said.
He added, "It just seems like all roads lead to the acceleration of AI."
Musk revisits OpenAI dispute
Musk has repeatedly criticised OpenAI's shift from a nonprofit research organisation to a commercial AI company and remains locked in a legal dispute with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
He has accused OpenAI, Altman, Microsoft and other affiliated parties of abandoning the organisation's original mission. Earlier this year, a federal judge dismissed key claims in the lawsuit after finding they were barred by the statute of limitations. Musk has said he plans to appeal.
Musk praises Anthropic CEO
During the interview, Musk also discussed the origins of Anthropic, claiming the company's founders left OpenAI because they did not trust Altman.
He praised Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, describing him as "a very principled person" who "cares about the future of the world."
Calls for AI companies to cooperate on safety
Despite his ongoing disagreements with other AI leaders, Musk argued that leading AI companies should work together on safety.
He suggested rival firms should be given time to review major AI models before release to identify potential risks. According to Musk, government intervention should only be necessary if companies fail to address serious safety concerns identified during that process.