Elon Musk and Google co-founder Larry Page's friendship reportedly soured at Musk's 44th birthday party in June 2015, when Page called Musk a "speciesist" during a discussion about artificial intelligence. Despite the personal rift, Musk's companies have become more closely intertwined with Google than ever, anchored by Google's $900 million investment in SpaceX in 2015 that gave the search giant roughly 4.9% ownership of the rocket maker. Just ahead of SpaceX's IPO, the company announced it would lease AI infrastructure to Google for $920 million per month over 32 months, a deal that could bring $30 billion in revenue to SpaceX's AI business.
Musk Co-Founds OpenAI to Counter Google DeepMind
In 2015, Musk co-founded OpenAI with Sam Altman, who was running startup incubator Y Combinator. Musk had the explicit goal of creating a "counterweight" to Google DeepMind, a dominant AI research lab. It was the same year that Google invested $900 million in SpaceX. In messages that came out in court years later, Musk told Altman that if left unchallenged, Google could wield monopolistic control over one of the world's most powerful technologies. Musk recruited AI researcher Ilya Sutskever away from DeepMind to OpenAI. Sutskever was credited with co-founding OpenAI and with research breakthroughs that enabled the development of the company's blockbuster AI models and flagship product, ChatGPT. He later left to start Safe Superintelligence, which became a Google Cloud customer in 2025.
Tesla Follows Google's Autonomous Vehicle Path
Google started up its autonomous vehicle division, now known as Waymo, in 2009. At the time, Tesla was taking orders for the forthcoming Model S, a fully electric sedan that it had not yet begun to manufacture. In October 2020, Musk started bashing Waymo in posts on Twitter, suggesting Tesla had a more powerful system in the works. Since then, Musk has repeatedly slammed Waymo for its reliance on the lidar sensors its robotaxis use to navigate and avoid obstacles. Tesla's self-driving systems, still in development, primarily rely on cheaper cameras. Waymo is now running a fleet of thousands of robotaxis in the U.S., providing more than 500,000 paid trips each week across 11 cities. Tesla has only about 50 Robotaxi-branded vehicles operating mostly in Austin, Texas, according to public records. While Tesla's driver assistance systems have become more sophisticated over time, the company does not yet sell the "FSD (Unsupervised)" systems that it says will someday make its vehicles safe to use without a human supervisor at the wheel, ready to steer or brake as needed.
SpaceX Partners with Google Cloud for Starlink Service
In 2021, Google Cloud inked a deal with SpaceX to help the company run its Starlink satellite internet service. SpaceX had about 1,500 Starlink satellites in orbit at that time, and around 500,000 subscribers to its offering. The company would use Google's private fiber-optic network to quickly make connections to cloud services as part of a deal that was set to last about 7 years, sources told CNBC at the time. "The power of combining cloud with universal secure connectivity, it's a very powerful combination," Bikash Koley, who was then Google's head of global networking and now oversees global infrastructure, said in the announcement.
Alleged Affair Between Musk and Brin's Ex-Wife
In December 2021, Musk had an affair with Sergey Brin's ex-wife, Nicole Shanahan, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2022. It took place during Art Basel in Miami. The report said that Brin filed for divorce shortly after learning of the alleged affair. After the news broke, Musk denied claims about any romantic involvement with Shanahan. He also disputed the rift with Brin by posting a selfie that he took at a San Francisco party, where Brin is seen laughing with attendees near Musk. Walter Isaacson wrote, in his authorized biography of Musk, that the SpaceX and Tesla CEO had "maneuvered himself into a position where he could take a selfie with Brin, which Brin tried to avoid." In a 2023 People Magazine interview, Shanahan denied the affair but said the allegations had resulted in a "debilitating" aftermath for her.
SpaceX Leases AI Compute Capacity to Google
Earlier this month, SpaceX announced a deal to rent AI compute capacity to Google at $920 million per month for about 32 months. A Google Cloud spokesperson told CNBC the deal was made "to ensure we have bridge capacity to meet surging customer demand for our agent platform, Gemini Enterprise, which has been even higher than we expected." SpaceX said in filings that Google can end the agreement "after a one-month grace period," if SpaceX fails to deliver the requisite amount of AI chips by Sept. 30. After this year, the agreement can be terminated by either party with 90 days notice. The announcement came just before the SpaceX IPO. Alphabet's 4.9% of SpaceX, as of the close of trading on Friday, was worth more than $100 billion, making it Google's most lucrative private market bet.
FAQ
What business deal did SpaceX announce with Google ahead of its IPO?
SpaceX announced it would lease AI infrastructure to Google for $920 million per month over 32 months, a deal that could bring $30 billion in revenue to SpaceX's AI business.
When did Google invest in SpaceX and what stake does it own?
Google invested $900 million in SpaceX in 2015. Thanks to that investment, Google owns roughly 4.9% of SpaceX, which as of the close of trading on Friday was worth more than $100 billion.
Why did Musk co-found OpenAI in 2015?
Musk co-founded OpenAI with Sam Altman in 2015 with the explicit goal of creating a "counterweight" to Google DeepMind. In messages that came out in court years later, Musk told Altman that if left unchallenged, Google could wield monopolistic control over one of the world's most powerful technologies.
