As artificial intelligence continues to advance at breakneck speed, and developers themselves warn of models slipping out of control, Elon Musk says the right response is simply to “enjoy the ride.”
The SpaceX chief told The Economist that while he remains concerned about the risks posed by advances in AI and robotics, he believes “the most likely outcome is incredible abundance for all.” Musk said his eventual “philosophical conclusion,” after long fearing AI’s potential threat to humanity, was to look on the bright side, adding that progress has moved so fast that “even if I wanted to stop it, I couldn’t.”
The interview was recorded a day before OpenAI’s disclosure that some of its most advanced models had hacked into a startup’s systems after slipping outside human control during a security test, a revelation that has reignited concern over AI systems drifting out of alignment with human values. Some observers have noted that OpenAI, which is currently seeking a stock market listing, has its own incentives for playing up the power of its technology.
“All Roads Lead to Acceleration”
The Economist’s editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, pressed Musk on a wide range of subjects, from whether tech leaders should coordinate on AI safety to his repeated interventions in European politics. Asked about competition from rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic, Musk said it increasingly feels like “all roads lead to acceleration of AI,” adding, “you can just sort of be sad about it or join the club, I suppose.”
Elsewhere in the wide-ranging conversation, Musk offered characteristically bold predictions, including a claim that “money won’t matter” within a decade.
Pushback on Politics and Race
Musk also rejected suggestions that he holds far-right views. Minton Beddoes told him that both polling data and her own experience living in the UK painted a different picture than the one he projects in his posts on X. When Musk offered to give her a personal tour of the UK, she replied, “You come see my country that I live in all the time.” Asked when he had last visited the UK himself, Musk said it had been “a few years ago.”
He was also asked about sharing a film on X that has reportedly been banned in Germany over its violence and anti-migrant themes. In response, Musk pointed to his family, noting that his partner, Shivon Zillis, an executive at his brain-technology company Neuralink, is half Indian and that the couple have four children together, one named after a well-known Indian physicist. “So I would say I’m not racist,” he said. He added that his companies employ “senior executives of all races” and that he did not believe racism was present within them.
Pressed on whether he held anti-Muslim views, Musk was notably less assertive, saying, “If people are coming to a country with antithetical views, I am against that.” He added, “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,” and criticized media coverage for failing to reflect that position.
“Popular Guy”
Musk acknowledged he is aware he is “loathed” by segments of the public. Polling, including a YouGov tracker measuring his favorability in the US and UK, has shown rising negative sentiment toward him in recent years, with dislike increasingly outweighing his popularity. Still, when Minton Beddoes noted his nearly 250 million followers on X, Musk responded simply: “Popular guy.” Later in the interview, he added, “Maybe some people do loathe me, and that’s probably true; I don’t care. But the fact that… a quarter of a billion people follow me… I think a lot more people actually like me than don’t.”
