- Elon Musk intends to challenge Microsoft and Google in AI, he teases in a new interview.
- The CEO of Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX expresses his love for dogecoin and denounces corporate inertia.
- Musk also discusses space travel, China-Taiwan succession and risks. Here are the 12 best quotes.
Elon Musk discussed everything from dogecoin and aliens to artificial intelligence and China-Taiwan tensions during the Wall Street Journal CEO Council on Tuesday.
The centibillionaire CEO of Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX has hinted that he plans to challenge Microsoft and Google on AI, and complained about corporate inertia. He also shared his hopes for the next US president, warned that humanity was getting arrogant, and noted that his children wouldn’t necessarily inherit stakes in his companies.
Here are Musk’s 12 best quotes, slightly edited for length and clarity:
1. “Sanity and stability will be paramount to traveling to Mars. You don’t want anyone going crazy and opening the airlock in the middle of the night.”
2. “I’m often asked, ‘Have I seen evidence of extraterrestrials?’ and I haven’t – other than the fact that I at one point had an alien registration card when I got my green card.”
3. “My preference, and what I think would be the preference of most Americans, is really to have someone fairly normal in the office. I think we would all be very happy with that actually.”
4. “We generally operate with too much of an assumption that civilization is hardy, and nothing could really bring it down – a sentiment that has been common throughout history among empires shortly before they are collapsing. going on right now.”
5. “I don’t advise anyone to buy crypto, or bet the farm on dogecoin, or anything like that. Maybe you should, but let me advise you that it might be unwise. Dogecoin is my favorite cryptocurrency because it has the best humor and has dogs.”
6. “In any business there are people who help get things done and people who try to put the brakes on. Twitter was in a situation where you would have a meeting of 10 people – one person with a throttle and new with a set of brakes. So you haven’t gotten very far.
7. “We have OpenAI and Microsoft, Google DeepMind, and there should probably be a third horse in the race.” (Musk teased that there will soon be more on that front from Tesla.)
8. “It really is a double-edged sword. If you have a genie who can grant you anything, who can also do anything, it necessarily presents a danger. I expect the first government uses of AI were weapons technology.” (Musk was talking about the consequences of the development of artificial superintelligence.)
9. “There’s a non-zero chance it will become Terminator. It’s a small chance of wiping out humanity. Or taking over all humans’ security, and taking over all computer systems and Earth’s weapon systems, and effectively being like some kind of uber nanny.”
10. “There’s a good chance the surge will happen. I’m afraid to think what would happen, the results for the global economy would be absolutely catastrophic. China and Taiwan are like Siamese twins with the rest of the world from an economic point of view. The separation is going to be disastrous indeed if that happens.”
11. “Succession is one of the toughest and oldest problems. It has plagued countries, kings, prime ministers, presidents and CEOs since the dawn of history. There is no no obvious solution.”
12. “I’m definitely not one to automatically give my kids a share of businesses, even if they have no interest, inclination, or ability to run businesses. I think that’s a mistake.”
businessinsider
