Google co-founder Larry Page and Elon Musk were friends for over a decade before their friendship came to an abrupt end after a heated debate between the two over the dangers of AI to humanity.
What Happened: Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL co-founder Page accused Tesla Inc. TSLA co-founder Musk of loving humanity more than AI-powered digital life forms, reported the New York Times.
Page was a guest at Musk's 44th birthday party in Napa Valley in 2015, and the two friends were apparently engaged in a heated debate. Page accused Musk of being a "speciesist", something that went against his dream of a future where humans merged with intelligent machines to become some kind of cyborgs – a scene straight out of science fiction movies.
However, Musk was not sold on the idea – he believed that machines would eventually wipe out humanity, paving the way for a world of machines.
Musk termed it "the last straw" that ended his friendship with Page.
If this sounds too familiar, that is because it reads like a scene straight out of The Terminator movie franchise – only, in this case, humanity loses to machines.
Why It Matters: Musk has been open about his love for humanity – he has even been batting for people reproducing more just so the human population remains stable – he worries there will be a population collapse in the US.
He also tried to prevent AI company DeepMind from being acquired by Google. Page, who was then the CEO of Google at the time, prevailed and acquired DeepMind for $500 million.
A few weeks after his birthday, Musk stopped talking with Page. He then met Sam Altman later and the two came together to found OpenAI, which is now backed by Microsoft Corp. MSFT.
Musk ended up leaving OpenAI, too, eventually, over the same worries of AI and machines being dangerous to humanity. He has also called for a pause in AI development.
Photo by Frederic Legrand – COMEO on Shutterstock
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