Media: SpaceX founder’s close ally becomes his implacable rival

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, and Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind and Nobel laureate in Chemistry in 2024, once close allies, are now locked in a fierce battle for dominance in the field of artificial intelligence. 

Musk and Hassabis were once united by a shared goal: to develop AI for the benefit of humanity. Hassabis co-founded the AI research lab DeepMind in London in 2010, with the mission of creating artificial superintelligence, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

Musk invested $5 million in the venture after Hassabis visited SpaceX's headquarters in 2012. Their relationship soured when Hassabis decided to sell DeepMind to Google in 2014 for $500 million, turning down Musk's business proposal.

The British entrepreneur then attempted to persuade Musk to join an ethics board after the sale, which turned DeepMind into a Google subsidiary focused on AI. However, Musk dismissed the idea, calling the board a "sham" after one of their meetings. 

Musk was concerned that Hassabis would ultimately become "a sort of AI dictator". This rift led Musk to co-found OpenAI with Sam Altman, although the two are now also at odds.

Musk is suing Altman and the company for abandoning their "nonprofit roots." Newly released emails in connection with the case reveal just how deeply Musk was troubled by DeepMind. 

He was also alarmed by the possibility that Google might develop Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) — a form of superintelligence where a system's cognitive abilities are on par with or surpass human capabilities. 

The year before, Musk had expressed concerns about humanity's ability to develop AI, saying, "I think the answer is certainly negative. If it happens anyway, it would be better if someone other than Google did it first."

Elon Musk is a businessman known for his key roles in the space company SpaceX and the automotive company Tesla, Inc. Other involvements include ownership of X Corp., the company that operates the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), and his role in the founding of the Boring Company, xAI, Neuralink, and OpenAI. In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced Musk is set to become co-chair of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the second Trump administration. Musk is the wealthiest individual in the world; as of November 2024 Forbes estimates his net worth to be $304 billion.

By Naila Huseynova