Elon Musk Clashes With AI Godfather Geoffrey Hinton Over Royal Society Expulsion: ‘History Is the Actual Judge’

Key Takeaways

• Elon Musk and the “godfather of AI,” Geoffrey Hinton, have clashed on X.
• The Tesla CEO slammed Hinton’s calls for his ban from the Royal Society as “cruel.”
• Musk and Hinton have had a complicated relationship over the years.

Elon Musk and Geoffrey Hinton, commonly known as the “godfather of AI,” have clashed online over the Tesla boss’s fellowship at the Royal Society’s scientific institution.

Over one thousand academics co-signed an open letter last month calling for Musk’s removal from the society. The letter claimed that Musk’s public comments regarding the U.K.’s unrest broke the society’s code of conduct.

Musk has now fired back against the latest call for expulsion from fellow member Hinton, claiming that only “craven, insecure fools care about awards and memberships.”

Musk vs. Hinton

Hinton, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics, joined the growing calls against Musk on Sunday, March. 2, claiming the Tesla boss was doing “huge damage” to the scientific community.

“I think Elon Musk should be expelled from the British Royal Society,” Hinton wrote on X, the social media platform owned by Musk.

“Not because he peddles conspiracy theories and makes Nazi salutes, but because of the huge damage he is doing to scientific institutions in the US,” he added. “Now let’s see if he really believes in free speech.”

The comments were quickly rebutted by Musk, who labeled the physicist’s comments as “ carelessly ignorant, cruel and false.”

“Only craven, insecure fools care about awards and memberships. History is the actual judge, always and forever,” Musk wrote back in response.

“Your comments above are carelessly ignorant, cruel and false,” he added. “That said, what specific actions require correction? I will make mistakes, but endeavor to fix them fast.”

Growing Musk Criticism

The clash follows Stephen Curry writing a letter calling for Elon Musk’s expulsion from the Royal Society after calling MP Jess Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” and his previous attacks on U.S. health official Anthony Fauci.

In 2022, Musk posted on X, “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” after criticizing the health official for his recommendations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Musk attacked Fauci primarily because of his role in shaping COVID-19 policies, which the Tesla boss viewed as harmful and politically motivated.

The scientific community criticized Musk’s attack on Fauci, and the White House slammed the billionaire’s comments as “disgusting” and “dangerous.”

Musk and Hinton’s Complicated Relationship

Musk and Hinton have had a complicated relationship over the years.

The two industry heavyweights previously shared similar views on AI safety, believing that technology could become dangerous for humanity.

However, in a June interview with the Globe and Mail, Hinton claimed he made up a meeting to get off a phone call with Musk quickly.

“I made up a meeting to get him off the phone,” said Hinton. “He’s not going to like that. Because him being the center of attention, that’s what he wants. I don’t think he’s my friend anymore.”

Despite this, the Nobel Prize winner publicly backed Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in December.

“OpenAI was founded as an explicitly safety-focused non-profit and made a variety of safety related promises in its charter,” Hinton said in a statement issued by Encode in December 2024.