Musk, Chess.com feud over AI solving chess

Elon Musk reignited a public dispute with Chess.com this week, engaging in a heated online exchange that spanned about 24 hours and touched upon the complexity of chess and the capabilities of artificial intelligence. The public spat began on Thursday, September 3, 2026, when Musk responded to a post illustrating the rapid growth of possible chess positions. He asserted that the number of "not utterly stupid" moves in chess is minuscule and predicted that the game would eventually be "fully solved." Chess.com's official social media account responded to Musk's claim with a two-word retort, "skill issue," a common phrase in online gaming culture used to question competence. This prompted Musk to defend his position, arguing that while chess is difficult for humans, it is trivial for computers. He drew a parallel to checkers, which was mathematically solved in 2007, suggesting chess would follow a similar path with the aid of AI. The debate escalated as Chess.