Elon Musk is a busy man working social media big Twitter, electrical automotive maker Tesla, and house cargo enterprise SpaceX, amongst different ventures. On Tuesday, he weighed in about his corporations and extra—from A.I. threats to exploring Mars—on the Wall Avenue Journal‘s CEO Council convention.
A brand new search rival
In current months, tech corporations like Google and Microsoft have been fast to leap on the generative A.I. bandwagon by introducing A.I. chatbots. However in line with Musk, the A.I. house wants extra competitors.
“I feel there ought to be a big third horse within the race,” Musk mentioned. “We’ve received OpenAI (the maker of A.I. chatbot ChatGPT) and Microsoft [and] Google DeepMind.”
Musk hinted that Tesla or Twitter might be new gamers within the A.I. search wars in the event that they mix capabilities with one other firm he launched in April, X.AI.
“OpenAI has a relationship with Microsoft that appears to work pretty nicely,” he mentioned, referring to the partnership between the 2 corporations by which OpenAI provides its know-how to Microsoft and Microsoft has invested in OpenAI. “So it’s potential that X.AI and Twitter, Tesla would have one thing comparable.”
Musk helped cofound OpenAI eight years in the past and left in 2018. He has since criticized OpenAI for switching from being a nonprofit to a for-profit firm. In March, Musk questioned the legality of a nonprofit, to which he donated $100 million, now having a $30 billion market valuation—a metric sometimes used solely by for-profit corporations.
For its half, Tesla’s A.I., utilized by its automobiles’ Autopilot to navigate and establish obstacles, is among the many most superior, in line with the billionaire CEO. If OpenAI and Microsoft have been to construct self-driving automobiles whereas Tesla constructed the “best” giant language mannequin, the underlying algorithm in A.I. chatbots, Tesla would undoubtedly win, Musk claimed. So, if Tesla grew to become a participant within the search wars, as the corporate’s chief hinted, it will make an impression, he argued.
What if A.I. goes the Terminator means?
Individuals speaking about A.I. usually point out fears of doomsday eventualities by which robots take management over people. Musk shares the identical concern.
“There’s a non-zero likelihood of it going Terminator,” Musk mentioned, referring to the Hollywood film by which futuristic A.I. tech threatens to trigger colossal harm to the world. “It’s a small probability of annihilating humanity, nevertheless it’s not zero.”
This isn’t Musk’s first time being vocal in regards to the dangers of superior A.I. In March, he was among the many many tech gamers—together with teachers, technologists, and trade consultants—who signed a letter calling for a six-month pause on the event of superior A.I. methods that might give governments time to create a regulatory system.
On the convention on Tuesday, Musk mentioned that authorities regulation could be an essential step ahead. He referred to a potential state-run “insights committee” that might preserve tabs on the A.I. developments of various corporations and suggest guidelines to make sure security.
Amongst Musk’s issues: dangerous actors harnessing A.I. to focus on social media.
“The pen is mightier than the sword—so, one of many first locations the place we’ve to watch out about A.I. getting used is in social media to govern public opinion,” Musk mentioned, including that it was this potential drawback that led him to introduce subscriptions to Twitter.
“It’s 10,000 instances more durable to create an account that has a verified cellphone quantity from a reputable provider, that has a bank card, and that pays a small quantity per 30 days,” Musk mentioned.
Mars will not be for everybody
Musk additionally mentioned his ambitions for SpaceX and his aim of ultimately touring to Mars. However the SpaceX CEO was clear that house journey isn’t for everybody and that candidates would want to fulfill sure standards to go to the Purple Planet.
“Sanity and stability might be prime necessities for touring to Mars,” Musk mentioned. “You don’t need somebody going nuts and opening the airlock in the midst of the evening.”
He additionally spoke about how the aim of creating “multi-planetary life” and constructing a “self-sustaining metropolis” on Mars would seemingly take for much longer to turn into a worthwhile enterprise.
“SpaceX is a a lot more durable drawback as a result of it’s a a lot longer-term aim and some huge cash misplaced alongside the best way,” Musk mentioned.
SpaceX’s Starship rocket, which the corporate hopes would ship folks and cargo to Mars, had its first take a look at flight in April, however exploded simply minutes after its launch.
Twitter and Tesla didn’t instantly return Fortune’s request for remark.
Correction, Could 24, 2023: An earlier model of this text mistakenly talked about that Musk mentioned distant work on the Wall Avenue Journal‘s convention. The story and headline have been up to date to appropriate the error.
