In a shocking move, billionaire tech titan Elon Musk reportedly insulted an OpenAI intern who challenged his decision to pursue artificial general intelligence (AGI) tech at Tesla. According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk called the intern a “jackass” when they questioned the safety implications of developing such a controversial technology. As a result, OpenAI’s CEO made a “jackass” trophy which was presented to the intern on a pillow to commemorate their quarrel.
Tesla and OpenAI, two of Musk’s more recent endeavors, have been making strides in the tech industry. Tesla, which Musk is currently the world’s second-richest person, has been working on a humanoid robot called Optimus, showcased at the company’s AI Day, with Musk predicting it to be up for sale by 2027. OpenAI, on the other hand, has been leading the charge to develop AGI, prompting Google to issue a “code red” due to the success of its ChatGPT chatbot, which became the fastest-growing app in history, reaching 100 million users in just two months. But despite this, in 2022 Musk seemed to be less confident in Tesla’s potential to develop the tech, tweeting that Tesla AI might “play a role” in AGI.
When taking into account the strength of OpenAI, Musk must have recognized that developing AGI himself was not his most promising opportunity. Despite this, OpenAI’s executives seemingly had a bit of appreciation for Musk: CEO Sam Altman, on an appearance on the “On With Kara Swisher” podcast when confronted with Musk’s criticisms, said that he was “a jerk”. But it is clear Musk was a formidable presence, with an internship offered by the company explicitly stating that he would be taking a direct role in the development of AGI technology.
Musk’s methods have presented a great many opportunities for technology companies and entrepreneurs, as evidenced by the success of OpenAI and Tesla, as well as SpaceX and Neuralink. Despite his strong-arming tactics, his influence will likely remain strong regardless of the criticism he receives, as will the advancing technology skill that goes abroad.
