As AI continues to evolve at breakneck speed, and developers warn of models going rogue, Elon Musk says people should simply “enjoy the ride”.
The boss of SpaceX told The Economist while he remains concerned about risks posed by advancements in AI and robotics, “the most likely outcome is incredible abundance for all”.
Musk said his “philosophical conclusion” after fearing for AI’s threat to humanity was to “look on the bright side”. He said progress has come so quickly “even if I wanted to stop it, I couldn’t”.
The interview was recorded the day before OpenAI’s revelation on Tuesday that some of its most advanced AI models hacked a start-up after it lost control of them during a security test.
It sparked concerns about AI systems falling out of alignment with human values, though some have pointed out OpenAI – which is seeking to float on the stock market – has an interest in talking up the power of its tools.
The Economist’s editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes questioned Musk on a range of topics, from whether he believed big tech executives should work together to tackle AI safety risks to why he intervenes in European politics.
With the rise of rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic, Musk said: “It just seems like all roads lead to acceleration of AI… you can just sort of be sad about it or join the club, I suppose.”
In a wide-ranging interview, the entrepreneur also made typically outlandish predictions, such as claiming “money won’t matter” in a decade.
He also pushed back on suggestions he supports “far right” views.
Minton Beddoes said both data and her own experience of living in the UK told a different story to the image portrayed by the trillionaire in his X posts.
“You come see my country that I live in all the time,” she said when Musk offered to take her on a tour of the country.
Asked when he had last visited the UK, Musk said “a few years ago”.
The trillionaire was also asked about his sharing of a film on X reportedly banned in Germany for its violence and anti-migrant message.
“My partner is… she’s half Indian, and I have four children with her,” Musk said of his partner Shivon Zillis, an executive at his brain tech firm Neuralink.
“One of them was named after a famous Indian physicist, so I would say I’m not racist.”
Musk also said there were “senior executives of all races” at his companies, adding: “I don’t think there’s any racism there”.
But when pressed on whether he was “anti-Muslim”, he was less defiant.
“If people are coming to a country with antithetical views, I am against that,” he said.
“I’m against rape and murder, I’m against the imposition of rules and laws that are contrary to what we’ve come to accept in the West,” he continued, criticising the media for not understanding or reflecting this.
‘Popular guy’
Musk also told The Economist he was well aware he was “loathed” by some.
Some polls have sought to measure public opinion of the SpaceX founder, with one YouGov tracker monitoring his favourability in the USand UK on a quarterly basis.
Its findings suggest while widely known for his fame, “dislikes” of Musk have increased in recent years to eclipse his popularity.
However, when Minton Beddoes noted his almost 250 million followers on X at one point during the interview, Musk was quick to quip: “Popular guy”.
“Maybe some people do loathe me, and that’s probably true, I don’t care,” he said later.
“But the fact that, as you pointed out, a quarter of a billion people follow me… I think a lot more people actually like me than don’t.”
By BBC News
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