In a recent CNBC interview, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that he was the primary reason OpenAI was formed and that he had key influence in OpenAI’s management and decisions. Musk, who was a co-founder of OpenAI in 2015 but left in 2018, also suggested that Microsoft’s $1 billion investment in the startup had given them excess control over OpenAI’s strategy. Moreover, Musk expressed concerns regarding the potential harms of AI and suggested slowing down its development. However, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella have a different opinion to this, saying Musk’s claims were “factually incorrect” and that Microsoft had no control over OpenAI.
Microsoft and OpenAI began working together in 2019, with OpenAI utilizing Microsoft Azure as their preferred cloud computing provider. Nadella applauded OpenAI’s strong adherence to its mission and its independent status. When asked about Musk’s view on the matter, Nadella responded that he truly respected the Tesla CEO but simply disagreed with him in this instance.
Nadella additionally argued that small-time players could still compete in the AI space. Pointing to search engine Bing and OpenAI’s ChatGPT as examples, Nadella believes that smaller AI-driven companies can still make their presence known, provided that they can find their product-market fit. He believes this serves as a good reminder that AI is not a winner-takes-all kind of game and encouraged competition between major players such as Microsoft and Google.
OpenAI is an American artificial intelligence research laboratory founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Peter Thiel, and others. It has presented remarkable developments in AI technology and assisted Microsoft in developing its Azure-based services. As for Microsoft, it is one of the leading technology companies in the world, well known for its Windows software, Xbox consoles, and Office suite. Satya Nadella is the CEO of Microsoft since 2014 and has overseen the company’s shift to focus more on cloud computing and other areas of digital transformation.
