Why Elon Musk is feuding with Chess.com
What's the story
Elon Musk has sparked an online debate with Chess.com. The argument started when Musk claimed that "chess will be fully solved one day." He further said that there are not many chess moves that aren't "utterly stupid." In response to his prediction, Chess.com's official account called it a "skill issue," leading to a back-and-forth exchange between the two parties.
AI perspective
Musk's defense and Chess.com's mathematical argument
Responding to Chess.com's skepticism, Musk defended his position by saying that while chess is hard for humans, it isn't the same for computers.
He compared the future of chess solving to that of checkers and encouraged people to enjoy the game in the meantime.
This prompted Chess.com to present a mathematical argument about the complexity of chess games compared to atoms in the universe.
Position vs games
Musk's counter and the shift to semantics
Musk countered Chess.com's claim by saying that all legal chess positions are actually fewer than the estimated atoms in the universe.
He also said that advanced AI will find ways to solve and compress these positions in ways beyond human comprehension.
The debate then moved from numbers to semantics, with users pointing out both sides were technically correct but differed in language.
Online reaction
The 'intern' joke and Chess.com's clarification
The debate took a personal turn when Chess.com corrected Musk about who runs its account.
This led Musk to joke about arguing with "some random intern at a chess website."
However, Chess.com clarified that it was a full-time employee handling the account.
A spokesperson from Chess.com later said losing an argument on X to an alleged intern must be particularly annoying for the billionaire.