Elon Musk renewed his challenge to Mark Zuckerberg for a physical fight nearly a year after their initial plans for a cage match had failed. However, Zuckerberg appears unconvinced by Musk's latest provocation.
Musk rekindled his ongoing feud with Zuckerberg during a visit to Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The 53-year-old business magnate was in Washington to attend the speech of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress.
Musk confidently declared his readiness to fight Zuckerberg under any conditions, reigniting their earlier rivalry. "I'll fight Zuckerberg any place, any time, any rules," Musk told a reporter about a potential match.
Zuckerberg Throws Cold Water On Musk's Cage Match Challenge
Zuckerberg responded with a sceptical "Are we really doing this again?" on Threads. The seeds of a potential physical confrontation between Musk and Zuckerberg were sown last June when Zuckerberg unveiled Threads, a direct competitor to Musk's X, igniting a public feud between the two tech titans.
Musk, who had previously shared a photo of himself in a sumo wrestling pose, challenged Zuckerberg to a cage fight. Known for his mixed martial arts and Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills, Zuckerberg quickly accepted Musk's challenge.
Plans for a charity match between Musk and Zuckerberg seemed to be progressing, with Musk even announcing a live stream on X. The event gained momentum when podcaster and martial arts expert Lex Fridman shared training photos with Musk.
However, the highly anticipated cage match fell apart in August when Musk cited a need for back surgery stemming from a previous sumo wrestling injury. Frustrated by the delays, Zuckerberg declared Musk's lack of seriousness and called for an end to the spectacle.
Musk labelled Zuckerberg a "chicken" for cancelling their planned cage fight and even threatened to visit Zuckerberg's home to teach him a lesson. Zuckerberg revealed that he had proposed a specific date for the fight and had even secured UFC President Dana White's involvement to transform the event into a legitimate competition.
However, these efforts were unsuccessful. "Elon won't confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead," Zuckerberg wrote last Aug. 13. "If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me."
The Evolving Musk-Zuckerberg Dynamic
A 2023 Wall Street Journal report revealed that Musk and Zuckerberg have maintained a longstanding, low-key rivalry that has intermittently erupted into public view. Surprisingly, Musk recently commended Zuckerberg for the open-source release of Meta's advanced AI model, Llama 3.1.
Despite a history marked by public disputes, including Musk's previous criticisms and a proposed cage match following the launch of Threads, Musk acknowledged Zuckerberg's contributions to the AI field.
Musk publicly praised Zuckerberg's decision to make Llama 3.1 open-source on Tuesday, a move Meta positions as a key differentiator from competitors like OpenAI's GPT-4. Responding to a post by former Tesla AI director Andrej Karpathy, Musk acknowledged Zuckerberg's achievement.
"It is impressive and Zuck does deserve credit for open-sourcing," the Tesla CEO wrote. Musk and Zuckerberg have been vying for leadership in the rapidly expanding AI industry.
While their rivalry has seen heated exchanges and even a proposed physical showdown, Musk's recent public acknowledgement signals a potential shift in their dynamic. As the AI race intensifies, the tech titans' relationship could continue to evolve in unexpected ways.
