New York () — Elon Musk has warned in a new interview that artificial intelligence could lead to the “destruction of civilization” even as he remains deeply involved in the growth of AI through his many ventures, including a rumored startup.
“AI is more dangerous than, say, bad aircraft design or bad production maintenance or bad car manufacturing, in the sense that it has the potential — however small the probability, but not it’s trivial – to destroy civilization,” Musk said in his interview with Tucker Carlson, which will air in two parts on Monday and Tuesday night.
Musk recently warned repeatedly of the dangers of AI, amid the proliferation of AI products for general consumer use, including those from tech giants like Google and Microsoft. Last month, Musk also joined a group of other tech leaders in signing an open letter calling for a six-month pause in the “out-of-control” race for AI development.
Musk said Monday night that he supports government regulation of AI, although “it’s not fun to be regulated.” Once AI “can be in control,” it might be too late to set regulations, Musk said.
“A regulatory agency has to start with a group that initially seeks information on AI, then solicits input from the industry, and then has a rulemaking proposal,” Musk said.
In fact, Musk has been sounding the alarm about AI for years – something he acknowledged in a Tweet over the weekend – but it has also participated in the AI arms race through investments in its sprawling empire of companies.
Tesla, for example, trusts artificial intelligence so much that it organizes a annual AI day to promote your work. Musk was a founding member of OpenAI, the company behind products like ChatGPT (Musk has said that the evolution of OpenAI “isn’t what I intended at all”). And on Twitter, Musk said in a Tweet last month that it plans to “use AI to detect and highlight the manipulation of public opinion on this platform.”
To Carlson, Musk told him that he put “a lot of effort” into creating OpenAI to serve as a counterbalance to Google, but took his “eye off the ball.”
Now, Musk has said he wants to create a rival to the AI offerings of tech giants Microsoft and Google. In his interview with Carlson, Musk said that “we are going to launch something that I call TruthGPT.” Musk described it as an “ultimate truth-seeking AI” that “cares about understanding the universe.”
“Hopefully there is more good than bad,” Musk said.
More recently, Musk has been reported to be working to build a generative AI startup that could rival OpenAI and ChatGPT. The Financial Times reported last week that Musk is assembling a team of AI researchers and engineers as well as seeking investors for a new venture, citing people familiar with the billionaire’s plans. Musk last month incorporated a company called X.AI, according to the report, which cites Nevada business records.
During his conversation with Carlson, Musk addressed his Twitter property, which he bought for $44 billion and has been embroiled in controversy ever since.
“I thought there would probably be some backlash,” Musk told Carlson, saying the public will ultimately decide the app’s future.
The New York Times’ main account lost its blue check mark earlier this month, which it had previously told it wouldn’t pay for the check.
“Obviously, there are a lot of organizations that are used to having sort of unrestricted influence on Twitter that don’t have it anymore,” Musk said, appearing to give the 171-year-old newspaper advice on how to manage content on its account, calling its feed “unreadable”.
Musk said he had been an active user of Twitter since 2009 and began to have a “bad feeling” about where the app was headed, but did not specify what it was. He said that he later decided to acquire the rig after unsatisfactory discussions with his board and management.
