'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok: "Looking Forward to Facing Musk's AI... The Winner Will Be T1"

"Personally, I am looking forward to the match against Grok 5, as proposed by Musk."Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker), widely regarded as the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) of League of Legends (LoL) esports, has responded to Elon Musk's challenge.
At a press conference held at LoL Park in Gran Seoul, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 18th, Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker) gave a positive response to the recent proposal from Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, regarding a League of Legends match against artificial intelligence (AI).
Recently, Elon Musk suggested on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) a showdown between Grok 5, the next-generation model from his AI startup xAI, and the world's top League of Legends team. xAI plans to unveil Grok 5 in the first quarter of next year. League of Legends is a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game developed by Riot Games, where two teams of five compete to destroy the opponent’s Nexus.
Musk wrote, "Let's see if Grok 5 can beat the best human LoL team in 2026." It is widely understood that the team Musk referred to is T1, the Korean professional LoL team featuring Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker).
In response to Musk's provocative post, T1 commented, "We are ready. Are you?"
On this day, Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker) remarked, "I think it is positive that AI and big tech companies are showing great interest in the gaming industry," adding, "I am looking forward to the match against Grok next year."
He continued, "As far as I know, AI has already surpassed humans in chess. Still, I believe T1 will win the match next year," expressing his confidence.
Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker) also gave an honest answer regarding his decision to sign a four-year contract extension with T1 through 2029. "T1 offered very favorable terms. Beyond just the financial aspect, they took care of many things for me," he explained. "As a professional player, I also wanted to inspire fans in a positive way."
T1 is a multinational esports company established in 2019 as a joint venture between SK Telecom and Comcast. Currently, SK Square is the largest shareholder of T1.
Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker) also revealed that he had just finished a conversation with Prime Minister Kim Min-seok that day. The two reportedly discussed the domestic gaming industry. The interview is scheduled to be released on the 20th.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter