Key takeaways from Pavel Durov’s most extensive interview with Le Point

The founder of Telegram gave an interview to the French magazine Le Point — his first ever conducted in French.

Durov’s Code reviewed the full text of the interview. Highlights below:

• Durov called the charges against him “absurd.” He claims he’s being punished without trial, banned from leaving the country, which prevents him from seeing his ill parents and newborn son.
• Pavel once again stated that he left Russia and sold his stake in VKontakte in 2014 after refusing to cooperate with authorities and hand over user data. He denies any ties or agreements with the Kremlin.
• Durov’s core principle remains privacy and freedom of expression. He said Telegram will never be sold (a $1 billion offer from Google was rejected), and that he remains the sole shareholder to ensure independence. In the event of his death, control of Telegram will pass to a nonprofit foundation.

“I didn't hesitate for a second. It's not a question of price, Telegram is simply not for sale. Because Telegram is not a commodity, it's a project. An idea. A promise of independence, confidentiality, freedom made to users. If you sell, you betray this promise. And that's impossible, I will never do it.”

• Telegram still doesn’t generate personal income for Durov and carries $2 billion in debt. His wealth stems from early Bitcoin investments, not from the messenger itself.
• For the first time, Durov spoke about his will: his children will only gain access to his estate 30 years from now. He also revealed that in addition to his six officially recognized children, he is the biological father of over 100 children, born via anonymous sperm donation.
• The artificial intelligence currently being developed by Nikolai Durov will differ from today’s large language models — it will be able to understand the world. According to Pavel, modern AI reads vast amounts of text, but “these models are not intelligent. They are just sophisticated.”

“My brother Nikolai is currently working on real AI – AI capable of thinking logically and understanding the world.”

Durov also shared his thoughts on other major tech figures. He acknowledged that he’s often compared to Elon Musk but pointed out the key differences: Musk runs multiple companies and tends to act impulsively, while Durov prefers focus and deep thinking. Still, he noted that a person’s strength can often become a weakness — and vice versa.

On Mark Zuckerberg, he said:

“Mark adapts well and quickly follows trends, but he seems to lack fundamental values that he would remain faithful to, regardless of changes in political climate or fashion in the tech sector.”

Once again, Durov emphasized that Zuckerberg’s strengths may also be the source of his vulnerabilities.

He also commented on Sam Altman and the direction of OpenAI:

“Sam has excellent social skills, which allowed him to forge alliances around ChatGPT. But some wonder if his technical expertise is still sufficient, now that his co-founder Ilya [...] and many other scientists have left OpenAI.”

According to Durov, the evolution of ChatGPT will be worth watching closely — especially as the race in AI continues to intensify.

The full interview is available on Le Point's website.