Meta's AI Chief Is in the Middle of a Public Clash With Elon Musk: 'Secrecy Hampers Progress' Meta AI chief Yann LeCun and Elon Musk have been going back and forth on X, formally Twitter, for a week.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun called out Musk's treatment of scientists and approach to hyping up AI on Sunday.
- LeCun and Musk's disagreement started last week when LeCun responded to an xAI job posting and criticized Musk.
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A leading AI researcher has publicly called out Elon Musk for his "blatantly false" AI predictions as the clash between the two continues after a week of back-and-forth.
In a Sunday post on Musk-owned X, Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun said that he disagreed with Elon Musk's treatment of scientists and approach to the AI hype.
"I mean, expressing an ambitious vision for the future is great," LeCun wrote. "But telling the public blatantly false predictions ("AGI next year", "1 million robotaxis by 2020", "AGI will kill us all, lets pause",...) is very counterproductive (also illegal in some cases)."
My opinion of @elonmusk
— Yann LeCun (@ylecun) June 2, 2024
I like his cars (I own a 2015 S, and 2023 S), his rockets, his solar energy systems, and his satellite communication system.
I also like his positions on open source and patents.
But I very much disagree with him on a number of issues.
I disagree with…
Musk has made those predictions. In April, he said that AGI, or artificial general intelligence smarter than the most intelligent human, would arrive "probably next year, within two years."
He also promised 1 million robotaxis by 2020 on a 2019 call with investors and said at an AI safety summit in November that "there is some chance, above zero, that AI will kill us all."
Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at Meta. Photographer: Benjamin Girette/Bloomberg via Getty Images
LeCun also disagreed with how Musk treats his scientists, pointing out that research needs publications and openness to advance.
"Secrecy hampers progress and discourages talents from joining the effort," LeCun wrote.
Musk's startup, xAI, raised $6 billion last week and stated that the money would go towards bringing its first products to market. The AI startup only has one public-facing product so far: an AI chatbot called Grok that is only available to premium X users.
xAI made the AI model behind Grok publicly available in March.
Musk did not directly respond to LeCun on Sunday but posted a meme on the same day parodying LeCun's posts.
I just wish Yan Lecan't would stop sending me this sh$t ? pic.twitter.com/5X6aecfDsD
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2024
LeCun and Musk's disagreement started last week when LeCun responded to an xAI job posting and criticized Musk's leadership.
Musk then taunted LeCun's research background, telling him to "try harder" after LeCun said he published over 80 technical papers since January 2022.
LeCun did not respond to Entrepreneur's request for comment.
Related: 'We Can All Agree Elon Isn't Serious': Mark Zuckerberg Slams Elon Musk as Feud Continues
