Elon Musk discusses life on Mars and how AI will – Latest News
Larry Fink, president and CEO of investment firm BlackRock, interviewed Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX on the World Economic discussion board in Davos, Switzerland this week. They spoke about every part from AI to robotics to Mars, and Musk provided a imaginative and prescient of the long run that’s coming more shortly than you may suppose. Here’s an excerpt of their dialog:
Larry Fink: So you’re presently building on AI, on robotics, on space, on vitality, all on the identical time. When you look throughout these efforts, what have they got in common from an engineering standpoint?
Elon Musk: Well, they’re all very troublesome technology challenges, however the total aim of my corporations is to maximise the long run of civilization, like mainly maximize the probability that civilization has a great future, and to develop consciousness past Earth.
Elon Musk attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) assembly in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2026. REUTERS
So in the event you take SpaceX, for instance, that SpaceX is about advancing rocket technology to the purpose the place we will prolong. Life and consciousness past Earth, to the Moon, to Mars, finally to different star systems. And I feel we should always at all times view consciousness, life as we all know it, as precarious and delicate. Because to the best of our information, we don’t know of life anyplace else.
You know, I’m usually requested, are there aliens amongst us? And I’ll say that I’m one, however . . .
We have 9,000 satellites up there. And not as soon as have we needed to maneuver round an alien spaceship. So I’m like, I don’t know. Bottom line is, I feel we need to imagine. Life and consciousness is extraordinarily uncommon, and it’d solely be us. And if that’s the case, then we need to do every part doable to make sure that the sunshine of consciousness isn’t extinguished, as a result of the way in which I view it’s, the image in my thoughts of a tiny candle in a huge darkness, tiny candle of consciousness, that might simply exit.
And that’s why it’s important to make life multi-planetary, such that if there may be a natural catastrophe or a man-made catastrophe on Earth, that consciousness continues. That’s the aim of SpaceX.
Tesla is clearly about sustainable technology and . . . And additionally, at this level, we’ve type of added to our mission sustainable abundance. So with robotics and AI. This is actually the trail to abundance for all.
People usually discuss fixing international poverty, or basically, how can we give everybody a very high customary of residing? I feel the one manner to do that is AI and robotics, which doesn’t imply that it’s with out its points. I imply, we need to be very cautious with AI. We need to be very cautious with robotics. We don’t need to discover ourselves in a James Cameron film. You know, “Terminator.”
But you probably have ubiquitous AI that’s basically free or close to it, and ubiquitous robotics, you then will have an explosion within the international financial system, an growth of the worldwide financial system that’s really past all precedent.
Fink: How can that be created? How can it broaden the worldwide financial system?
Musk: In the benign state of affairs of the long run . . . there will be such an abundance of items and companies as a result of my prediction is that there’ll be more robots than people.
Fink: But how do you then have human objective?
SpaceX’s Starship rocket launches from Starbase during its second check flight in Boca Chica, Texas, on Nov. 18, 2023 AFP through Getty Images
Musk: Yeah, I imply, you realize, nothing’s excellent, however I imply it’s a needed, like you may’t have each. You can’t have work that must be finished and wonderful abundance for all. . . .
But you probably have billions of humanoid robots, and I feel there will be, I feel everybody on Earth goes to have one and going to need one. Because who wouldn’t need a robot to, assuming it’s very protected, watch over your youngsters, take care of your pets? If you’ve gotten aged mother and father, a lot of mates may need aged dad or mum, so it’s very troublesome to take care them. Yeah, it’s costly and they simply aren’t enough younger people to take care of the outdated people. So in the event you had a robot that might take care of and shield an aged dad or mum, I feel that will be great.
That can be an wonderful factor to have. And I feel we will have these issues. So total, I’m very optimistic concerning the future. I feel we’re headed for a future of wonderful abundance, which could be very cool, and undoubtedly we’re in essentially the most fascinating time in historical past.
Power play
Fink: So sooner or later that you just discuss, the AI fashions, autonomous machines, rockets, relies upon on large will increase of compute, large will increase in vitality, costly vitality, manufacturing scale. What are the bottlenecks to get there?
Musk: I feel the limiting issue for AI deployment is basically electrical energy. It’s simply, proper, it’s vitality. I imply, we’re seeing the speed of AI chip manufacturing increase exponentially, however the charge of electrical energy being introduced online is negligible, 10%, 4% a 12 months, max.
Screens displaying the emblem of Grok, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by xAI, the American company specializing in artificial intelligence, and its founder, Elon Musk. AFP through Getty Images
It’s clear that we’re very quickly, perhaps even later this 12 months, we’ll be producing more chips than we will flip on.
Except for China, China’s growth in electrical energy is large. They’re building 100 gigawatts of nuclear as we communicate. Actually, photo voltaic is the most important factor in China. . . .
China, simply in photo voltaic, can do half of US electrical energy output per 12 months. Solar is by far the most important source of vitality.
And that’s why one of the issues we’ll be doing with SpaceX within a few years is launching solar-powered AI satellites as a result of the space is actually the source of immense energy, and you then don’t need to take up any room on Earth. There’s a lot room in space, and you may scale to tons of of terawatts a 12 months.
Fink: You and I’ve had these conversations earlier than, however why don’t you inform the viewers what wouldn’t it take for the United States and what sort of geography wouldn’t it take to have that photo voltaic discipline to impress the United States? And why aren’t we doing it?
Musk: Yeah, so, I imply, I assume a tough manner to consider it’s 100 miles by 100 miles, I’ll call it 160 kilometers by 160 kilometers of photo voltaic is enough to energy all the United States. Yeah, 100 mile by 100 mile areas is, I imply, you possibly can take mainly a small nook of Utah. Nevada. Nevada, New Mexico. Obviously, you wouldn’t need it multi function place. But it’s a very small proportion of the world of the US to generate all of the electrical energy that the US makes use of.
And the identical is true, really, for Europe. You may take a small half. You can take. Relatively unpopulated areas of say Spain and Sicily and generate all of the electrical energy energy that Europe wants.
Fink: So why don’t you suppose that there’s a motion towards that right here and within the United States?
Musk: Unfortunately, within the US, the tariff limitations for photo voltaic are extraordinarily high. And that makes the economics of deploying photo voltaic artificially high as a result of China makes virtually all of the photo voltaic . . . We clearly don’t control the US tariff coverage. But for different international locations, China makes photo voltaic cells which might be extremely low value.
Robo developments
Fink: I do know you’re going to be having a couple of massive bulletins on robotics and what it could do. I imply, after I went to the manufacturing facility, you confirmed me these robots. You talked about billions of robots, however how shortly can they be deployed in a manufacturing setting? How shortly can it’s utilized and be useful and create that abundance that you just talked about?
A “Tesla Bot” humanoid robot prototype is seen on this undated handout image. through REUTERS
Musk: Well, humanoid robotics will advance in a short time. I feel we do have some of the Tesla Optimus robots doing easy duties within the manufacturing facility. Probably later this 12 months, by the tip of this 12 months I feel they’ll be doing more advanced duties. But nonetheless deployed in an industrial atmosphere. And most likely someday subsequent 12 months, I’d say that by the tip of subsequent 12 months I feel we’d be promoting humanoid robots to the public.
That’s after we are assured that it’s very high reliability, very high security, and the vary of performance can also be very high. You can mainly ask it to do something you’d like.
Fink: You’re already seeing that in Tesla vehicles, the software program adjustments that you just’re doing. And what’s it, each quarter now a software program change that upgrades the flexibility of the robot within the car?
Musk: Yes, the Tesla full self-driving software program, we replace it generally as soon as a week and not too long ago some of the insurance coverage corporations have stated that it’s really so protected, Tesla full-self driving is so protected that they’re offering clients half-price insurance coverage in the event that they use has the power of driving within the car.
Fink: And that may be monitored by the insurance coverage company? Is that half of the settlement?
CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk (L), speaks with BlackRock chairman and WEF co-chairman Larry Fink during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual assembly in Davos on Jan. 22, 2026. AFP through Getty Images
Musk: Yeah. But I feel self-driving vehicles is actually a solved downside at this level. And Tesla’s rolled out a type of robot taxi service in a few cities and will be very, very widespread by the tip of this 12 months within the US. And then we hope to get supervised full self-driving approval in Europe hopefully subsequent month.
Fink: Really, that shortly.
Musk: And then. Maybe a related timing for China, hopefully.
Space cents
Fink: I need to transfer to space, as a result of traditionally, space could be very capital-intensive. It’s traditionally been finished by governments. Obviously, SpaceX modified the entire model. But we’ve seen it sluggish to scale, and now I’m beginning to see it ramping up in what you’re doing and different issues. Talk to us concerning the automation and AI, how it’s altering the economics in building and making ready for us in working in space.
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Musk: Well, the important thing breakthrough, the foremost breakthrough that SpaceX is hoping to realize this 12 months is full reusability. So no one has ever achieved full reusability of a rocket, which could be very important for the fee of entry to space. We’ve achieved partial reusability with Falcon 9 by touchdown the booster stage. We’ve now landed the booster over 500 occasions.
But we now have to throw away the higher stage. The higher stage type of burns up on reentry for Falcon 9.
So, and the fee of that’s equal to a small to medium sized jet. But with Starship, which is a giant rocket, it’s the biggest flying machine ever made.
Fink: That’s a rocket that you just’re utilizing for the thought of going to Mars, proper?
Musk: Yeah, Mars and the moon, in addition to for high quantity satellite tv for pc stuff. So Starship, hopefully this 12 months we should always show full reusability for Starship which will be a profound invention as a result of the fee of entry to space will drop by a issue of 100 if you obtain full reusability.
It’s the identical type of financial distinction that you’d count on between, say, a reusable plane and a non-reusable plane. Like if it’s important to throw your plane away after each flight, that will be a very costly flight. But in the event you solely should refuel, then it’s the fee of the fuel. And in order that’s actually the elemental breakthrough that will get the cost-of-access to space. Below the fee of freight on plane. Under $100 a pound sort of factor simply.
So it makes placing giant satellites into space very low cost. And then when you’ve gotten photo voltaic in space, you get 5 occasions more effectiveness, perhaps even more than that, than photo voltaic on the ground. Because it’s at all times sunny. You don’t have a day-night cycle or seasonality or climate. And you get about 30% more energy in space since you don’t have atmospheric attenuation of the ability. Any given photo voltaic panel will do 5 occasions more vitality and space than on the ground.
Fink: Is there any capability in doing that and then taking that energy and bringing it back to Earth? Is there a manner of doing that or are you simply taking that energy and using it for the wants, like building AI knowledge facilities in space?
Musk: It’s a no-brainer for building AI, solar-powered AI knowledge facilities in space . . . It can also be very cold in space, in the event you’re within the shadow. So you simply have, you’ve gotten photo voltaic panels dealing with the solar and then a radiator that’s pointed away from the solar. So it has no solar incidence and then it simply cooling, it’s simply a very environment friendly cooling system. Net impact is that the bottom value place to put AI will be space, and that will be true within two years, perhaps three, three on the newest.
Bright future
Fink: So trying 10 or 20 years out, how would you describe success with AI or space technology, and the place do you see it? Are you more sure what’s going to occur the following three years, or 5 or 10?
Musk: I don’t know what’s going to occur in 10 years, however the charge at which AI is progressing, I feel we’ve . . . We may need AI that’s smarter than any human by the tip of this 12 months.
And I might say no later than subsequent 12 months. And then most likely by 2030 or 2031, call it 5 years from now, AI will be smarter than all of humanity collectively.
Fink: Do you see your self ever going to Mars in your lifetime?
Musk: I’ve requested it a few occasions, like do I need to, you realize, die on Mars? And I’m like, yes, however simply not on affect.
Fink: Elon, thanks. Any final phrases?
Musk: Well, I feel typically, I imply my final phrases can be, I might encourage everybody to be optimistic and excited concerning the future. Good. And typically, for high quality of life, it’s really higher to err on the aspect of being an optimist and improper quite than a pessimist and proper.
