‘My partner is alf-Indian’: Elon Musk invokes Indian physicist while responding to Vinod Khosla’s racism allegation
Elon Musk is sparring with venture capitalist Vinod Khosla after the billionaire accused the Tesla CEO of racism and allegedly tried to poach some of his top talent. Musk responded to the controversy by calling Khosla names, stating that his partner is half-Indian and that he named one of his sons after an Indian physicist.
Why are Vinod Khosla and Elon Musk arguing?
The controversy began after Khosla responded to a September 2025 post by Musk that included the billionaire’s claim that “White people are a rapidly shrinking minority of the global population.”
Khosla responded to the post, claiming that the owner of the
“@elonmusk doesn’t want MAGA, he wants WAGA or ‘white America great again’ as a paradigm of ‘racism is great and desirable’. All non-whites and all good whites at @tesla, @SpaceX, @X, etc. should resign and join our portfolio. Email us your LinkedIn!” Khosla wrote.
Meanwhile, Musk once again claimed that Khosla was trying to prevent the public from using the public beach near his home; He has made this claim in the past as well. The billionaire appears to be referring to Khosla’s multiple lawsuits regarding restricting public access to Martins Beach near his property.
“Vinod, you are not only an arrogant asshole who is trying to stop people from using the public beach near your home, you are also a complete idiot. My partner Shivon is half Indian and my eldest son with him is named in honor of the great Indian physicist Chandrasekhar,” Musk wrote.
The two billionaires have a history of clashing on social media over various issues. Musk had urged Khosla to support Donald Trump during the 2024 US elections. In response, Khosla said it was difficult for her to support someone who “has no values, lies, cheats, rapes, degrades women, hates immigrants like me.”
Khosla, who was among OpenAI’s early corporate backers, also defended the ChatGPT maker against Musk’s lawsuits, stating that Musk suing OpenAI felt like “sour grapes.” Khosla added that Musk didn’t join the AI race early enough and stay committed, which is why he’s now filing for litigation.
