- The feud between Elon Musk and Meta AI CEO Yann LeCun is intensifying.
- The two have been exchanging harsh words over the past week via X's posts.
- In a recent post, LeCun slammed Musk for his “dangerous political opinions.”
Elon Muskand Yann LeCun, Meta's head of AI and an award-winning scientist, are in an escalating public feud.
The two have been trading acrimonious posts on X since last week, arguing about Musk's management style and the value of scientific research.
On Sunday, LeCun fired back even harder, posting a lengthy X post about his opinions of the Tesla CEO.
While he praised Musk's Tesla cars, SpaceX's satellite communications systems and his stance on open-source AI, he also blasted the billionaire for public positions he called “dangerous.”
“I believe his public positions on many political issues, journalism, media, reporting and scholarship are not only wrong, but dangerous to democracy, civilization and the well-being of humanity,” LeCun said.
“Say what you want about the 'traditional media', but without professional journalists working in a free and diverse press, you can't have reliable information. Democracy cannot exist without it. That's why only authoritarian people, the enemies of democracy, blame the media.”
LeCun also accused Musk of “promoting outrageous conspiracy theories as long as it serves his own interests.”
“Technology visionaries are supposed to be rationalists, and rationalism cannot function without truth,” LeCun writes.
The AI pioneer also criticized Musk's acquisition of Twitter and subsequent running of the platform, saying the billionaire was “ignorant” of the challenges of running a social media platform and the intricacies of content moderation.
LeCun said some of Musk's stances on the media and political issues have become “particularly concerning since he has given himself a platform to spread dangerous political views, conspiracy theories and hype.”
Musk appeared to respond to some of the criticism by sharing a meme about AI researchers.
The billionaire received some backing from Emad Mostak, founder and former CEO of Stability AI, who shared a post mimicking LeCun's, praising Musk as “the most well-roundedly intelligent and highly driven person I know.”
Representatives for Musk and LeCun did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment outside of normal working hours.
