Meta Platforms Inc. AI Chief Scientist Yann LeCun spent some time on the X platform over Memorial Day weekend dueling with its owner, the billionaire and devoted contrarian Elon Musk.

The spat was centered around Musk’s (pictured) $24 billion venture, xAI, his generative artificial intelligence startup that he hopes will get ahead of the likes of OpenAI, Microsoft Corp., Google LLC and Meta, which are all now engaged in what could be termed the great scramble for the AI market a bit like colonizing countries once scrambled for physical space. The fight, it seems, isn’t going to be pretty.

Musk wrote on X that he is currently looking for workers to join his band of AI experts, but only if they “believe in our mission of understanding the universe.” He added that this “requires maximally rigorous pursuit of the truth, without regard to popularity or political correctness.”

In the seemingly ever-growing polarization stakes in the U.S. and much of the rest of the Western world, Musk is regarded by his fans as a truth seeker and anti-woke crusader, while the same fans might regard other tech behemoths as batting for the other side. For LeCun, Musk has gone too far.

He replied to Musk’s job posting, stating that Musk “spews crazy-ass conspiracy theories on his own social platform.” Piling on with the criticism, LeCun pointed out seeming hypocrisy regarding Musk’s AI ambitions, which means employees of Musk will be working on something that “will kill everyone.”

Musk has said in the past that AI could “kill us all.” Although there are concerns about AI and its world-ending potential, many experts in the space have called the existential threat overblown.

“I like his cars, his rockets, his solar panels, and his satellite network,” LeCun added. “I very much dislike his vengeful politics, his conspiracy theories, and his hype.”

After LeCun said he’s “a scientist, not a business or product person,” Musk shot back saying he was “just following orders.”

“You don’t seem to understand how research works,” said LeCun, to which Musk asked what research he’d done in the last five years. “Over 80 technical papers published since January 2022,” was the reply. Musk responded, “That’s nothing, you’re going soft. Try harder!”

In a conversation that started to look a little bit puerile for two gifted men, LeCun defended his work for Meta, which was met with laughing emojis from Musk. All it seemingly needed was a parent to join in and tell the men they were just as bad as each other.

Alas, after LeCun pointed out the importance of convolutional neural networks and Musk stated that his company Tesla Inc. doesn’t use them much these days, the animus came to an end. For now.

Photo: Automobile Italia/Flickr