Vinod Khosla accuses Elon Musk of racism, exhorts workers to ditch X, Tesla, SpaceX for his firm

Billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla has accused technology magnate Elon Musk of promoting "WAGA" (White America Great Again) instead of "MAGA" (Make America Great Again), calling it a racist paradigm based on a 2025 post from Musk alleging white people becoming a global minority.

Khosla even urged non-white and "decent white" employees at Musk’s Tesla, SpaceX, and X to quit and join his venture firm, Khosla Ventures.

"@elonmusk doesn't want MAGA, he wants WAGA or "white America great again" as a racism is great and desirable" paradigm. All non-whites in @tesla, @SpaceX, @X etc and all decent whites should quit and join our portfolio. Email us your linkedin! (sic)," Khosla wrote on X.

Musk retorted, labelling Khosla a "pompous *******" who went "full retard."

He also highlighted his half-Indian partner and his son, who is named after the Indian physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, to counter the claims of racism.

"Vinod, you’re not just such a pompous ******* that you tried to stop the public from using a public beach near your house, you’ve also gone full retard.

My partner, Shivon, is half Indian and my eldest son with her is named in honor of the great Indian physicist Chandrasekhar," Musk responded.

Previous clashes

Musk and Khosla, key figures in tech, have publicly clashed on X over AI, politics, immigration, land access, and racism allegations.

One of their earliest public clashes centered on the development and governance of AI. Musk sued OpenAI (a company he co-founded but later left) in March 2024, accusing it of abandoning its non-profit, open-source mission.

Khosla, an investor in OpenAI, dismissed the lawsuit as "sour grapes," suggesting Musk bailed early and was litigating because he couldn't innovate in the space. Musk responded by claiming Khosla "doesn't know what he is talking about."

The feud extended to broader debates on open-source vs. closed AI models, with Khosla arguing for regulations and national security considerations (comparing it to not open-sourcing the Manhattan Project), while Musk pushed for open-source approaches.

The pair traded barbs over the 2024 presidential election. After Joe Biden dropped out, Khosla advocated for a moderate Democratic candidate, criticising Donald Trump for lacking values and demeaning immigrants.

Musk urged Khosla to support Trump, arguing he would promote individual freedoms over government intervention.

Khosla hit back, noting Musk's companies (like Tesla and SpaceX) rely heavily on government contracts and subsidies. They also sparred over a Musk-Trump conversation, which Khosla called "dumb," while Musk labeled Khosla as "deranged about Trump."

Immigration has been a flashpoint.

Musk has accused Khosla of hypocrisy for supporting the influx of unvetted migrants to US towns while restricting public access to a beach near his property. Khosla clarified he opposes irregular immigration but criticised Trump's false claims about Haitian immigrants.

In May 2025, Khosla warned that harsh policies could scare away qualified immigrants needed for the US AI race with China.

In September 2024, Musk mocked Khosla over his long-running legal battle to restrict public access to Martins Beach, a California property Khosla owns.

Musk posted a doctored image of a sign reading "No Plebs Allowed" attributed to Khosla, prompting Khosla to demand an apology and clarify court rulings supported his private property claims. Musk sarcastically "apologised," escalating their feud.

ICE killings

Their new feud comes amid heated political rhetoric over the fatal shooting of US citizens by immigration agents in Minneapolis.

The death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti was one of five shootings this month involving federal agents conducting immigration enforcement, including the fatal shooting of Minnesota woman Renee Good.

At least six immigrants have died this month in federal immigration detention, an unusually rapid pace.

The Pretti shooting has drawn anger across the US political spectrum as the administration of Republican Trump backed the agents even as video evidence contradicted its version of events.

Khosla took a stand on ICE shooting after Khosla Ventures partner Keith Rabois said on social media that law enforcement had not shot an innocent person and that irregular immigrants commit crimes daily.

Khosla, however, disavowed the comments.

"ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) personnel must have ice water running thru their veins to treat other human beings this way," Khosla said in a post on X. "There is politics but humanity should transcend that," Khosla added.

Billionaire Musk, who has led the charge to the politically conservative right, with hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign donations to Trump's 2024 campaign and support for his anti-immigration moves, has not commented on the Pretti shooting.

However, commenting on the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good on January 7 by ICE agent, Musk defended the actions of federal agents, framing the shootings as self-defence in response to perceived threats from vehicles.

Meanwhile, over 450 employees from firms such as Google, Meta Platforms, Salesforce and OpenAI signed a letter on Saturday urging their top executives to pressure the White House to withdraw ICE from US cities, cancel all contracts with ICE and to speak out publicly against ICE's violence.

"The wanton brutality ... has removed any credibility that these actions are about immigration enforcement. Their goal is terror, cruelty, and suppression of dissent," they said in the letter.