# Elon Musk speaks on AI, robotics and aliens in discussion looking ahead to the future *Global News* ยท https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPCvFy5BKeM ## Summary In this interview, Elon Musk discusses his overarching goal of maximizing the probability that civilization has a great future by expanding consciousness beyond Earth. He argues AI and robotics are the path to global abundance, predicts humanoid robots for sale to the public by the end of next year, and says AI smarter than any human could arrive by the end of this year. He also touches on aliens, aging, solar power, self-driving cars, and his own desire to go to Mars. ## Key points - Musk says he has seen no evidence of aliens, noting SpaceX's 9,000 satellites have never had to maneuver around an alien spaceship. - He views consciousness as a tiny candle in vast darkness and argues for making life multiplanetary to protect it. - He believes AI and robotics are the only way to solve global poverty and create abundance for all. - He predicts humanoid robots will be sold to the public by the end of next year, once they are safe and highly capable. - He says AI smarter than any human may arrive by the end of this year, and smarter than all humanity collectively by 2030 or 2031. - He says a small corner of Utah, Nevada, or New Mexico could generate all the electricity the US uses, but high tariff barriers on solar make deployment artificially expensive. - He calls self-driving cars essentially a solved problem, with Tesla's robo-taxi service expected to be widespread in the US by the end of this year. - He says he would like to go to Mars, a six-month journey with launch windows every two years, and jokes he wants to die on Mars, just not on impact. ## Notes ### Purpose of Musk's Companies - Musk states the overall goal of his companies is to maximize the probability that civilization has a great future and to expand consciousness beyond Earth. - SpaceX exists to advance rocket technology so life and consciousness can extend to the Moon, Mars, and eventually other star systems. - He describes consciousness as a tiny candle in a vast darkness that could easily go out, which is why life should become multiplanetary as insurance against natural or man-made disasters. ### On Aliens - Musk jokes that if anyone would know about aliens among us, it would be him. - SpaceX has 9,000 satellites and has never once had to maneuver around an alien spaceship. - His conclusion: assume life and consciousness are extremely rare, and it might only be us. ### AI and Robotics - Musk calls AI and robotics the path to abundance for all and the only way to give everyone a high standard of living. - He warns we must be careful with AI and robotics so we don't end up in a Terminator scenario. - In the benign scenario, he predicts robots and AI will saturate all human needs, to the point where you can't think of anything to ask a robot for. - He expects everyone on Earth will want a humanoid robot, for watching kids, caring for pets, and looking after elderly parents, since there aren't enough young people to care for the old. - He acknowledges a tension: you can't have both work that must be done and amazing abundance for all. ### Timelines - Humanoid robots sold to the public by the end of next year, once reliability and safety are high. - Tesla full self-driving is updated sometimes weekly; some insurers offer half-price insurance for using it. - Robo-taxi service should be very widespread in the US by the end of this year, with supervised full self-driving approval in Europe hoped for next month. - AI smarter than any human possibly by the end of this year, no later than next year; smarter than all humanity collectively by 2030 or 2031. ### Energy, Aging and Mars - A small percentage of US land area (a corner of Utah, Nevada, or New Mexico) could generate all US electricity, but solar tariff barriers make economics artificially high; SpaceX and Tesla teams are each working toward 100 gigawatts a year of solar. - Musk believes aging is a solvable problem, noting all cells age at the same rate, implying a synchronizing clock across 35 trillion cells; there is some benefit to death as it prevents ossification of society. - On Mars: the trip is six months each way, with launch windows every two years. He says yes, he wants to die on Mars, just not on impact. ## Transcript [00:00] The overall goal of my companies is to maximize the future of civilization like basically maximize the probability that civilization has a great future. Um and uh to expand consciousness beyond earth. So take SpaceX for example that SpaceX is about build advancing rocket technology to the point where we can extend life and consciousness beyond Earth uh to the moon to Mars uh eventually to other star systems and uh and I think we should always view consciousness uh life as we know it as as precarious and delicate um because to the best of our knowledge we we we don't know of life anywhere You know, I'm often asked um are there aliens among us? And I'll say that I am one, but >> or you're from the future. [00:56] >> They don't believe me. I think if anyone would know if there are aliens among us, it would be me. Um and uh we we have 9,000 satellites up there and not once have we had to maneuver around an an alien spaceship. So I'm like I don't know. It's bottom line is I think we need to assume that life and consciousness is extremely rare and it might only be us. And if that's the case, then we need to do everything possible to to ensure that the the light of can light the light of consciousness is not extinguished because we're effectively the way I view it is the image in my mind is of a a tiny candle in a vast darkness, tiny candle of consciousness that could easily go out. Um and that's why it's important to make [01:48] life multilanetary uh such that if there is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster on earth that consciousness continues with robotics and AI um this this is really the path to abundance for all. If you say, you know, people often talk about uh solving global poverty or essentially how how do we make give everyone a very high standard of living? I I think the only way to do this is AI and robotics. We need to be very careful with AI. We need to be very careful with robotics. We don't want to find ourselves in a James Cameron movie, uh, you know, Terminator. He's he's great. Great movies. I love his movies. But but we don't want to be in Terminator obviously. Um but but we if you have um ubiquitous AI that is essentially free [02:44] or close to it and ubiquitous robotics uh then uh you will have an an explosion in the in the global economy. An expansion in the global economy that is truly beyond old precedent. And actually my prediction is in the in the benign scenario of the future that we will the robots we will actually make so many robots in AI that they will actually saturate all human needs. Meaning you won't be able to even think of something to ask the robot for at a certain point. >> But how do you then have human purpose in that scenario? Yeah. I mean, you know, there are nothing nothing's perfect, you know, but um like you can't have both. You can't have work that has to be done uh um and uh amazing abundance for all. [03:36] Um because if it's if it's work that has to be done, then then then you and and only some people can do it, then then you you you can't have abundance. >> Then it's narrow. >> It's narrow. Exactly. So, um, but if you if you have billions of humanoid robots, I think there will be, um, I think I think everyone on Earth is going to have one and going to want one. Um, because, uh, you who wouldn't want a robot to, you know, um, assuming it's very safe, uh, watch over your kids, take care of your pet. Uh if you have elderly parents, uh a lot of friends of mine said they have elderly parents. It's it's uh very difficult to take care of them. >> Expensive. >> Yeah, it's expensive and it's expensive and there just aren't enough people to [04:21] take care of the there aren't enough young people to take care of the old people, >> right? >> Um so if you if they um if if you had a robot that could take care of and protect an an elderly parent, I think that would be great. That would be an amazing thing to have. I mean overall I'm I'm very optimistic about the future. I think we're headed for a future of amazing abundance uh which is very cool. Um and uh and and definitely we are in the most interesting time in history. >> You and I reverse aging in this new history. >> You know I haven't I haven't put much time into uh the aging stuff. I I do think it is a very solvable problem like like you can I think when when when we find figure out what causes aging [05:08] >> I think we'll find it's incredibly obvious. It's not a subtle thing. Um the reason I say it's not a subtle thing is because all the cells in your body, you know, with some pretty much age at the same rate. I've never seen someone with with an old left arm and a young right arm ever in my life. Um so why is that? it that that means that there must be a clock a synchronizing clock >> that is synchronizing across 35 trillion cells in your body. There is some benefit to death by the way. It's like there's there's a reason why we don't actually have a longer lifespan. Uh because if you if you have if people do live forever for a very long time I think there's some risk of an oification of society of of things just getting [05:55] kind of locked in place. That said, do I think we'll figure out ways to extend life and um and maybe even reverse aging? I think that's highly likely. >> What would it take for the United States and what type of geography would it take to have that solar field to electrify the United States? And and then let me ask a question. Why aren't we doing it? >> You could take basically a small corner of Utah, >> Nevada, >> Nevada, New Mexico. Obviously, we wouldn't want it all in one place, but I'm you can it's it's a very small percentage of the area of of the US to generate all of the electricity that the US uses. >> Um, and the same is true actually, I mean, for for Europe. Unfortunately, in in the US, the the the tariff barriers [06:42] for solar are are extremely high. Um and that makes the economics of deploying solar uh so artificially high because China makes almost all the solar. The SpaceX and Tesla teams both separately are working to build to 100 gawatts a year of solar power in the US. By the by the end of next year I I think uh would be selling humanoid robots uh to the public. um that that's when we are confident that the it's very high reliability, very high safety. Um and the range of functionality is uh is also very high. You can basically ask it to do anything you'd like. The Tesla full self-driving software, we we update it sometimes once a week. Um and um recently some of the insurance companies have said that uh it [07:32] is actually so safe uh when what Tesla full full self-driving is so safe that uh they're they're offering uh customers half price insurance if they if they use Tesla full self-driving in their car >> and that could be monitored by the insurance company. Can they is that part of the agreement then? Yeah, self-driving cars is essentially a solved problem at this point, >> right? >> Um, and Tes Tesla's rolled out uh sort of robo taxi service in a few cities and >> right >> we'll uh I be very very widespread by the end of this year within the US and then we we hope to get supervised full self-driving approval in Europe hopefully next month. >> Really that quickly? >> Yeah. And then uh maybe a similar timing [08:22] timing for China hopefully the rate at which AI is progressing I think we we're we might have AI that is smarter than any human by the end of this year. Um and I would say no later than next year. >> Wow. Um and then probably by 2030 or 2031, call it 5 years from now. Uh AI will be smarter than uh all of humanity collectively. We want to have like Starfleet and Star Star Trek really for for real like where we actually have giant spaceships traveling through space going to other planets. What I would call the philosoph philosophy of curiosity. I'd like to understand u the meaning of life, you know. the is the standard model of is the standard model of physics correct >> regarding the beginning of life [09:14] beginning of existence and the end of the universe um what what questions do we not know to ask that we should ask and AI will help us with these things um so I'm just trying to understand how do we get here what's going on what's real are there aliens maybe there are um and if if we've got if we got spaceships that are traveling to other star systems uh we may find we may encounter alien And where we may find many long dead alien civilizations. >> Do you see yourself ever going to Mars in your lifetime? >> Uh yeah. I mean I would say like I you know I >> That's a long commitment. >> I've been asked >> wasn't that three years each way? >> Uh it's uh 6 months. >> 6 months. That's all it is. >> Yeah. 6 months. But the planets only [09:57] align every every two years. >> Okay. So, uh, yeah, I've been asked a few times like, "Do I want to, you know, die on Mars?" And I'm like, "Yes, but just not on impact.