Google Co-founder Larry Page Considered Leaving Wealth to Musk to Support Mars Plan
In 2014, Google co-founder Larry Page stated in an interview with Charlie Rose at the TED conference that he would prefer to leave his wealth to Elon Musk rather than to charities if he were to pass away, as Musk's goal of advancing human colonization of Mars as a backup for civilization is a worthy cause, and the company itself can have a charitable nature.
At that time, the two had a close relationship. Page remarked that most companies only make incremental changes, and that technology needs revolutionary breakthroughs. This statement was reported by several media outlets, and Musk's side responded with surprise.
Subsequently, the two became completely estranged due to differences over AI risks. Musk claimed that Page believed it was acceptable for AI to eliminate humanity as long as intelligence persists, calling him a "speciesist" for caring more about humanity. Musk stated that this was one of the direct reasons for founding OpenAI.
After Musk recruited AI scientist Ilya Sutskever from Google to join OpenAI, Page refused to have any further contact with him. Musk has repeatedly mentioned this in public forums and in legal testimonies, stating that he provided early funding, talent, and direction.
In 2007, Page predicted in an internal Google talk that the true arrival of AI would depend on massive computing power rather than sophisticated algorithms. He pointed out that human DNA, when compressed, is about 600MB, smaller than Linux or Windows, yet sufficient to start the entire brain, indicating that the underlying instructions are simple and the key lies in the scale of computation.
This viewpoint aligns with the subsequent path of deep learning, which relies on computing power and data scale. The relationship between the two shifted from jointly supporting a grand goal to opposing each other due to differing safety priorities, affecting the structure of AI organizations and talent flow.
In market mechanisms, capital and talent are concentrated in projects with different AI safety positions. Those supporting rapid advancement of superintelligence gain resources from the Google system, while those concerned about extinction risks divert top researchers through organizations like OpenAI. The divergence drives competition and safety discussions while exacerbating the path differentiation of top talent and funding.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
In 2014, Larry Page publicly expressed his willingness to direct wealth towards Musk's Mars plan, viewing it as a civilization-level backup. Around the same time, tensions arose between the two over the acquisition of DeepMind and AI safety. After Musk and Altman founded OpenAI in 2015 and recruited Sutskever, Page, according to Musk, completely severed ties. Musk mentioned Page again in the 2026 OpenAI-related lawsuit, referring to him as a speciesist.
In terms of capital pathways, Page focuses on achieving long-term goals through company structures, while Musk establishes counterbalancing forces starting with non-profit initiatives before shifting to commercialization. Talent flows from Google Brain to OpenAI, along with the diversion of funding and computational resources. Page emphasized the scale of computation early on, aligning with Google's subsequent investments in TPU and data centers.
This situation is similar to early internet founders diverging due to differing priorities of growth and safety, or the opposing camps in nuclear technology development advocating for acceleration versus regulation. Currently, AI is at a stage of parallel research and large-scale deployment with safety governance.
Essentially, this represents a path choice under technological substitution. Superintelligence may reshape humanity's status, and differing judgments among founders on "who should survive first" lead to a reallocation of organizations, funding, and talent based on safety attitudes. The mechanism lies in the belief differences directly translating into resource flows, rather than mere commercial competition.
ABAB News · Cognitive Laws
- The greater the goal, the sooner the divergence becomes opposition.
- Poaching core talent equates to severing old relationships.
- The scale of computation determines the upper limit; algorithms are just details.