In a revealing moment from the All-In Podcast, Elon Musk recounted a striking disagreement with Google co-founder Larry Page that laid bare fundamental philosophical differences about artificial intelligence safety.
According to Musk, Page accused him of being a “speciesist” — simply for prioritizing human welfare over machine intelligence.
The confrontation occurred during discussions about AI safety, when Musk expressed concerns about ensuring artificial intelligence wouldn’t pose existential threats to humanity. “Larry, what like we need to make sure that the AI doesn’t destroy all the humans,” Musk recalled saying.
Page’s response was to label Musk’s human-centric approach as “speciesist,” a term typically used to describe discrimination based on species membership.
Musk’s bewilderment at the exchange was palpable: “I’m like, well, Larry, what side are you on?” The Tesla and SpaceX CEO found it deeply concerning that someone with significant influence over AI development would not prioritize human safety. At the time of their disagreement, Google essentially had a monopoly on AI resources, having acquired DeepMind and possessing superior computing power and financial resources.
This philosophical clash became a catalyst for Musk’s creation of OpenAI. “Larry’s not taking AI safety seriously and Google had essentially all the AI and all the computers and all the money,” Musk explained. He described the situation as “a unipolar world where the guy in charge is not taking things seriously” and was calling him a “speciesist for being pro-human.”
Musk’s position is clear: he believes ensuring AI safety for humanity is paramount, even if that means being accused of favoring one species over potential machine consciousness.
This disagreement ultimately led Musk to establish OpenAI as “an open source nonprofit, the opposite of Google” — intended to serve as a counterweight to what he perceived as Google’s cavalier approach to AI safety.
The irony, as Musk noted, is that OpenAI has since transformed into what he calls “closed for maximum profit AI,” abandoning its original mission.