Telegram CEO gives his view on Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Mark Zuckerberg
Telegram cofounder and CEO Pavel Durov offered a quick personality assessment of some of his biggest tech rivals in a recent interview, calling Elon Musk "very emotional" and saying Sam Altman may not have the technical chops.
Durov, who was arrested last year after French authorities accused him of being complicit in letting criminal activity thrive on Telegram, pushed against the comparison some make between himself and Musk.
"We are very different. Elon runs several companies at once, while I only run one," he told the French outlet Le Point. "Elon can be very emotional, while I try to think deeply before acting." He added that Musk's perceived weaknesses, however, could also contribute to his strengths.
Both men have fathered many children — Musk has at least 11 known kids, and Durov told Le Point that he has more than 100 through sperm donation. All of them, Durov said, will get a sliver of his billions (he's worth nearly $14 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index).
When asked about Mark Zuckerberg 's qualities and flaws, Durov said the Meta CEO "adapts well and quickly follows trends, but he seems to lack fundamental values that he would remain faithful to, regardless of changes in political climate or fashion in the tech sector."
Zuckerberg has made notable changes at Meta in recent months and since President Donald Trump came back into office, including ending diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and third-party fact-checking. Durov has recently criticized the Meta-owned rival WhatsApp, calling it a "cheap, watered-down imitation of Telegram." A spokesperson for WhatsApp previously told BI that the app was "born with privacy in our DNA long before Telegram came along."
In terms of Altman's qualities and flaws, Durov praised his social skills, saying they've allowed him to make crucial alliances related to ChatGPT.
"But some wonder if his technical expertise is still sufficient, now that his co-founder Ilya and many other scientists have left OpenAI," Durov said, referring to the company's co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. He added that it will "be interesting" to track whether ChatGPT can stay ahead in the competitive world of AI chatbots.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
18 minutes ago
- CNBC
Meta CTO Bosworth says OpenAI countered lucrative job offers to AI startup's employees
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on a podcast this week that Meta has dangled $100 million signing bonuses in front of the startup's employees, but that his company's best people have opted to stay. According to Meta technology chief Andrew Bosworth, OpenAI countered Meta's offers. "The market is setting a rate here for a level of talent which is really incredible and kind of unprecedented in my 20-year career as a technology executive," Bosworth, who joined Meta in 2006 and has been CTO since 2022, told CNBC's "Closing Bell Overtime" on Friday. The AI hiring war heated up dramatically last week, when Alexandr Wang, co-founder of Scale AI, said he will join Meta to work on superintelligence, a term for technology that exceeds human capability. Meta will invest over $14 billion in Scale AI in exchange for a 49% stake, in a deal that was targeted at luring Wang and a few of his top staffers. On Thursday, CNBC reported that Meta had sought to buy former OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever's new startup Safe Superintelligence but is now hiring its CEO, Daniel Gross, and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. The two have a position in Safe Superintelligence through their venture firm NFDG. And earlier on Friday, CNBC confirmed that Meta reached out to startup Perplexity AI about a possible acquisition, but the deal never materialized. "We really believe in a future where a superintelligent AI is going to be helping humans at every step of the way," Bosworth said. "Wherever they could use an extra helping hand, it's there for them. And so we've been lucky to have this kind of team rally around, both external now and increasingly internal, with people like Alex Wang, this idea of superintelligence and doing what it takes to pursue that vision." In the first quarter, Meta's capital expenditures and principal payments on finance leases approached $14 billion. "Now," Bosworth said, "we're meeting that investment in personnel, and the compute and the people together are what makes it happen." Altman said on this week's podcast, hosted by his brother, that Meta had promised the bonuses on top of more than $100 million in annual compensation. OpenAI didn't respond to a request for comment. Earlier this month OpenAI said it had reached $10 billion in annualized revenue, but the company continues to rack up hefty losses.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Meta Warns Iran May Block WhatsApp Amid Snooping Allegations
Meta (META, Financials) expressed concern that Iran may move to block WhatsApp following claims by Iranian state media that the messaging platform is being used by Israel for surveillance. The U.S. tech company strongly denied the allegations, calling them false reports, and warned they could be used as a pretext to restrict access to its services at a critical time. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Sign with META. Meta said, We're concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most. The company emphasized that WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, meaning that neither Meta nor third parties can access the contents of messages. It also clarified that it does not track users' exact locations or log who is messaging whom. The statement came in response to Iran's state-run IRNA urging citizens to delete WhatsApp, claiming the Zionist regime is exploiting the app to gather private data. In a broadcast shared by Rudaw, an IRNA host warned viewers about potential surveillance targeting individuals linked to sensitive sectors, including nuclear science. While Meta confirmed it does not provide bulk data to any government, it acknowledged that metadatasuch as contacts and device informationcan be shared under specific legal requests. Meta also pointed to over a decade of transparency reports outlining such disclosures. WhatsApp, along with Instagram, was previously banned in Iran in 2022 during nationwide protests. That ban was lifted two months later as part of reforms introduced by President Masoud Pezeshkian to expand internet freedoms. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
USA Today
28 minutes ago
- USA Today
Oakley and Meta to launch new AI glasses. What do they do?
Meta and Oakley have partnered to create new glasses that utilize artificial intelligence to serve users while they serve looks. The tech giant and the sports equipment chain unveiled their new Oakley Meta HSTN on June 20, allowing users to access assistive technology without laying a hand. With a built-in camera and open-ear speakers, the water-resistant frames will allow users to listen to a podcast, stream their favorite playlist or record a day in their life in Ultra HD (3K) footage, according to Meta. With the use of AI, users can ask Meta questions regarding weather, restaurants, culture or more. A video trailer shared by the two companies shows that users can ask "Hey Meta, how strong is the wind today?" or say "Hey Meta, take a video" to get immediate assistance. "Together with Meta, we are setting new bounds of reality," Oakley Global President Caio Amato said in a news release. "It is not only about pushing forward performance, but also about amplifying human potential as never before. And this is just the first chapter of a new era for sports." The collaborative product comes after Meta worked with Ray-Ban for its smart glasses that debuted in 2023 and have sold millions, Meta said. When will Oakley Meta HSTN glasses be available, and how much? A release date for the Oakley Meta HSTN glasses collection has not been shared, but Meta hinted that they will drop later this summer. Customers hoping to be the first to get their hands on the new model can preorder it for $499 starting on July 11, with the retail price expected to drop to $399 later this summer. Watch the Oakley Meta HSTN product trailer Which countries will the Oakley Meta HSTN be made available? The Oakley Meta HSTN will be available for purchase later this year in the following countries: Meta said it aims to sell the products to customers in Mexico, India and the United Arab Emirates later in 2025. How to get the Oakley Meta HSTN? Those who want to be among the first to know about the availability of Oakley Meta HSTN glasses can sign up for updates here and at
