In the high-stakes race to dominate artificial intelligence, Elon Musk has offered a candid assessment of the competition — and it might surprise some. While Musk is pouring significant resources into his own AI company, xAI, he admits there is one rival currently holding the upper hand: Google.

Responding to a post on X (formerly Twitter) about which tech giant is best positioned to lead the AI industry, Musk pointed to Google’s considerable advantage through its DeepMind division.

“Outside of real-world AI, Google has the biggest compute (and data) advantage for now, so currently has the highest probability of being the leader,” Musk wrote.

The reason for this lead, according to Musk, is straightforward: Google’s unmatched access to massive datasets combined with substantial computational power. DeepMind has been a pioneer in AI research for over a decade, producing breakthrough models and pushing the limits of machine learning.

However, Musk believes this dominance will not last forever. “That may change in a few years. For the foreseeable future, the major AI companies will continue to prosper, as will xAI. There is just so much to do,” he added.

Google is not taking its position lightly. The company is investing an unprecedented $75 billion this year to expand data centres and boost computational capacity, aiming to further strengthen its AI and cloud offerings. With DeepMind’s world-class research team and a track record of innovation, Google is positioning itself to maintain its lead in the near term.

Meanwhile, Musk’s xAI is working to close the gap through an ambitious growth strategy. Central to this is the “Colossus” supercluster in Memphis — a massive infrastructure project designed to handle hundreds of thousands of GPUs for AI model training. Musk is also leveraging his broader business empire, tapping into SpaceX’s aerospace expertise, Tesla’s real-world AI capabilities, and social media platform X’s data to accelerate development.

xAI’s products, such as the Grok chatbot and the Aurora image generator, are evolving rapidly, with frequent updates aimed at matching or surpassing the capabilities of competitors. By integrating AI across multiple industries, Musk hopes to create a diversified and resilient AI ecosystem.

Musk’s acknowledgment of Google’s current advantage comes amid ongoing tensions with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The two co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk stepped down from the board in 2018. Since then, their professional relationship has grown increasingly strained, with both leaders taking different philosophical and strategic approaches to AI.

For now, Musk sees a competitive but dynamic future for the AI sector. While Google may enjoy a temporary lead thanks to its scale, he is betting that innovation, infrastructure, and cross-industry integration will shift the balance — and soon.