Odaily Planet Daily reports that Musk recently spoke with The Economist’s editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, sharing his views on superintelligent AI, politics, and AI regulation.
Musk predicts that artificial intelligence will surpass the combined intelligence of all humans within approximately five years, stating that at that point, AI will outperform humans in nearly all areas, except for “being human” itself. He believes AI has the potential to usher in an era of unprecedented abundance, enabling people to access almost anything they desire.
Regarding AI risks, Musk reiterated his previous assessment that the probability of AI leading to human extinction is around 10% to 20%, but noted that with the advancement of AI and robotics now irreversible, he has come to accept this reality and believes the current attitude should be to “enjoy the journey,” even if a “pause button” exists, it may not necessarily be pressed.
Musk admitted he “got a bit carried away with politics.” However, he still defended his efforts to push the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut spending, stating his goal was to reduce government waste and fraudulent expenditures.
Regarding AI governance, Musk recommends that major AI labs such as OpenAI, xAI, and Anthropic hold regular safety meetings to assess potential risks in each other’s models before releasing new versions. He believes that competitors are better positioned than governments to identify issues in each other’s models.
Additionally, Musk again criticized OpenAI’s transition from a nonprofit to a closed-source for-profit company and reiterated his dissatisfaction with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; he praised Anthropic’s co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei as “a very principled person” and stated that AI companies should, if necessary, “put aside personal grievances and cooperate for the good of the world.”
During the interview, Musk also maintained that the USAID budget cuts “did not cause anyone to die” and denied related criticisms, prompting the interviewer to question him. (Business Insider)