Elon Musk Says Co-Founding OpenAI Unintentionally Accelerated the AI Race

In an interview with The Economist, Elon Musk stated that his initial involvement in co-founding OpenAI to counter Google's monopoly backfired, unintentionally accelerating the global AI race. He noted that this effort triggered a chain reaction, including the spin-off of Anthropic, which has since become a major AI leader. This highlights the complex, unpredictable dynamics of the AI industry, where efforts to decentralize power and ensure safety can instead trigger intense commercial competition. It also sheds light on the ongoing rift between Musk and OpenAI's leadership, which has escalated into a major legal battle. Musk praised Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei as principled, noting that the Anthropic team only left OpenAI due to a lack of trust in Sam Altman. Additionally, Musk proposed a safety framework where competing AI companies peer-review each other's models for a week or two before release.