Elon Musk said he doesn't see Google as a competitor in the driverless car race

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he doesn't see Google as a direct competitor in the driverless car race at Vox Media's Code Conference Wednesday night.

"Google's done a great job of showing the potential of autonomous transport, but they're not a car company.... So I wouldn't say, you know, Google is a competitor because they're not a car company," Musk said.

He added that Tesla might compete more directly with the automaker Google decides to license its technology to, but doesn't see Tesla competing with Google itself. He mentioned the report that Google is working with Fiat Chrysler on driverless minivans as an example of a car company Tesla could compete with.

When it comes to Apple, however, Musk said he could see the tech giant as a more "direct" competitor.

"That'll be more direct. I would say that it's great that they're doing this and I, uh, hope it works out," he said.