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Elon Musk Thinking
Elon Musk speaks at the Qatar Economic Forum.
00:38:25
Elon Musk speaks at the Qatar Economic Forum. #ElonMusk Source: Reuters Follow me on X https://x.com/Astronautman627?t=RFQEunSF2NwRkCOBc6PkkQ&s=09
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- [00:00]
Elon Musk
On June 6th I'd like to go hunting the greatest action franchise of the past decade.
- [00:07]
Interviewer
How do I start doing what you do?
- [00:09]
Elon Musk
Reloads. Looks like you already have. From the world of John Wick Ballerina. Europe is our weakest market. We're strong everywhere else so our sales are doing, doing well at this point we don't anticipate any meaningful sales shortfall. And the, you know, the obviously the stock market recognizes that since we're now back over $1 trillion in market cap. So clearly the market is aware of the situation. So it's already turned around but sales.
- [00:45]
Interviewer
Still down compared to this time last year.
- [00:49]
Elon Musk
In Europe.
- [00:50]
Interviewer
In Europe. Okay.
- [00:51]
Elon Musk
And yes, but that's, that's true of, of all manufacturers, there's no exceptions.
- [01:00]
Interviewer
Does that mean that you're not going.
- [01:02]
Elon Musk
To be able, does that mean European weak?
- [01:05]
Interviewer
Okay, but you would acknowledge, wouldn't you that what you are facing. Okay, let's just take it as Europe. What you are facing is a significant problem. This Tesla is an incredibly aspirational brand. People identified with it, it saw it, they saw it as being at the forefront of the climate crisis. And now people are driving around with stickers in their car saying I bought this before we knew Elon was crazy.
- [01:28]
Elon Musk
And there are also people who are buying it because Elon's crazy or however they may view it. So yes, we've lost some sales perhaps on the left, but we've gained them on the right. The sales numbers at this point are strong and we see no problem with the mad. So what I mean you can just look at the stock price if you want the best insider information the stock market analysts have. That and a stock wouldn't be trading near all time highs if it was not if things weren't in good shape. They're fine, don't worry about it.
- [02:09]
Interviewer
Okay. I was citing sales figures rather than share price. Well, tell me then how committed you are to Tesla. Do you see yourself and are you committed to still being the chief executive of Tesla in five years time? Yes, no doubt about that at all.
- [02:30]
Elon Musk
Well, no, I might die.
- [02:35]
Interviewer
Okay.
- [02:36]
Elon Musk
Short of that, I'm dead. So there's a slight amount.
- [02:41]
Interviewer
Does that mean that the value of your pay doesn't have any bearing on your decision?
- [02:51]
Elon Musk
Well, that's not really a subject subject for discussion in this forum. The I think obviously there should be conversation for if there's something incredible is done, that compensation should match that something incredible was done. But I'm confident that whatever the whatever some activist posing as a judge in Delaware happens To do will not affect the future compensation.
- [03:22]
Interviewer
This is the judge who twice struck down the $56 billion pay package that was. That was awarded to you. I think the value on the basis on the current value of stock options.
- [03:33]
Elon Musk
Yeah, not a judge. Not a judge. The activist who is cosplaying a judge in a Halloween costume.
- [03:41]
Interviewer
Okay, that. That's your characterization. I think the value on the current value of stock options. I think the actual justice, according to the law on the current value of stock options, I think the value of that pay package stands at about $100 billion. Are you saying you are relaxed about the value of your future pay package? Your decision to be committed to Tesla for the next five years, as long as you are still with us on this planet, is completely independent of pay.
- [04:12]
Elon Musk
No.
- [04:15]
Interviewer
It'S not independent. To pay is a relevant factor then, to your commitment to Tesla.
- [04:21]
Elon Musk
Sufficient voting control such that I cannot be ousted by activist investors is what matters to me. And I've said this publicly many times, but let's not have this whole thing be a discussion of my alleged pay. It's not a money thing. It's a reasonable control thing over the future of the company, especially if we're building millions, potentially billions of humanoid robots. I can't be sitting there and wanting to get tossed out by for political reasons by activists. That would be unacceptable. That's all that matters. Now let's move on.
- [04:54]
Interviewer
Okay, well, just one question. Well, one question before we move on to other companies, which is that I wonder if some of what has happened to Tesla in the last few months. Did you take it personally?
- [05:11]
Elon Musk
Yes.
- [05:13]
Interviewer
And did it make you regret any of or think twice about your political endeavors? Because it is.
- [05:28]
Elon Musk
I did. I did what needed to be done. The. The violent antibody reaction. And I'm just. I'm not someone who's ever committed violence. And yet massive violence was committed against my companies. Massive violence was threatened against me. Who are these people? Why would they do that? How wrong can they be? They're on the wrong. On the wrong side of history. And that's an evil thing to do. To go and damage some poisoned person's car to threaten to kill me. What's wrong with these people? I've not harmed anyone. So something needs to be done about them. And a number of them are going to prison and they deserve it.
- [06:22]
Interviewer
You're referring to the attacks on Tesla showrooms.
- [06:25]
Elon Musk
But I think, yeah, bullets into showrooms and burning down cars is unacceptable. Yeah, those people will go to prison. And the people that funded them and organized them will also go to prison. Don't worry. We're coming for you.
- [06:39]
Interviewer
Wouldn't, wouldn't you. But wouldn't, wouldn't you acknowledge that some of the people who turned against Tesla in Europe were, were upset at your politics? And very few of them would have been violent in any way. They just objected to, to what they saw you say or do politically.
- [07:03]
Elon Musk
Well, it's certainly fine to object to political things, but it's not, it's not fine to resort to violence. And hanging someone in effigy and death threats, that's obviously not okay. You know, that's absurd. That is in no way justifiable at all in any way, shape or form. And some of the legacy media nonetheless have sought to justify it, which is unconscionable. Shame on them.
- [07:31]
Interviewer
Let's talk about your other companies then, and other business areas. SpaceX. I saw that you said in a speech at the West Point Military Academy recently that the future of warfare there is AI and drones. And obviously defense is an increasingly booming sector with the state of the world at the moment. Do you see SpaceX moving into weaponized drones?
- [08:04]
Elon Musk
You certainly ask interesting questions that are impossible to answer. So SpaceX is, it's the space launch leader. So SpaceX doesn't do drones. SpaceX builds rockets, satellites and Internet terminals. So SpaceX has, has a, a very dominant position in space launch. So of, of the mass launch to orbit this year, SpaceX will probably do 90%. China will do the remainder, half, half of the remaining amount. So 5%. And the rest of the world, including the rest of the US will do about 5%. So SpaceX will do about 10 times as much as the rest of all combined, or 20 times as much as China, which is, and China is doing actually a very impressive job. The reason for this is that we are putting into, into orbit the largest satellite constellation the world has ever seen by far. So I think at this point about maybe approaching 80% of all active satellites in orbit are SpaceX. And they're providing global, high, high bandwidth, global connectivity throughout the world. In fact, this connection is on a SpaceX connection. So I think this is a very good thing because it means that we can provide low cost, high bandwidth Internet to parts of the world that don't have it, or it's very expensive. And I think the single biggest thing you can do to lift people out of poverty and help them is giving them an Internet connection. Because once you have the Internet connection, you can learn anything for free on the Internet and you can also sell your goods and services to the global market. And once you have knowledge by the Internet and the ability to engage in commerce, that this is going to greatly improve quality of life for people throughout the world. And it has. And I'd just like to thank anyone in the audience who may have been helpful in, you know, with Starlink and getting it to approved in their country. And I think it's doing a lot of good on the countries that have approved it, which is, I think at this point, 130 countries are very happy with it. I don't currently anticipate space actually getting into the weapons business. That's certainly, that's not an aspiration we're frequently asked to do, to do weapons programs, but we have thus far declined.
- [10:32]
Interviewer
Do you envisage SpaceX or indeed Starlink as a separate entity, publicly listing in the near future or at all?
- [10:45]
Elon Musk
It's possible that Starlink may go public at some point in the future.
- [10:51]
Interviewer
And what would be the, what would be the time frame? What kind of time frame you consider.
- [10:57]
Elon Musk
I mean, no rush, no, I'm in a rush to go public. The, the, you know, public is, I guess, a way to, you know, potentially make more money, but at the expense of a lot of public company overhead and inevitably a whole bunch of lawsuits, which are very annoying. There really something needs to be done about the shareholder derivative lawsuits in the US because it allows plaintiffs law firms who don't represent the shareholders to pretend that they represent the shareholders by getting a puppet plaintiff with a few shares to initiate a massive lawsuit against the company. And the irony being that extreme irony that even if the class they purport to represent were to vote that they don't want the lawsuit, the lawsuit would still continue. So how can it be a class action representing a class if the class went against it? And that's the bizarre situation we've got in the US that needs, it's a dire need of reform as anyone who's running a public company experienced this. It's an absurd situation that needs to change.
- [12:05]
Interviewer
Well, do you think Donald Trump might change it? You've certainly got his ear. I imagine that you've put this to him. Is this something you're trying to change before any Starlink ipo?
- [12:17]
Elon Musk
Well, it would need a law to be passed. The trouble being that you need 60 senator senate votes and the Democrats will vote against it. The, the, the, the, the plaintiff's bar is, is I believe, the second largest contributor to the Democratic Party. That's the, that's the issue at the state level. This can be Solved. And, and I should say Texas recently passed a law which at the at least the state level made, made their selection lawsuits much more reasonable because you have to get at least one in 33 shareholders to agree that they are part of a class of shareholders. 3%. This is a. Will be really help with frivolous lawsuits.
- [13:09]
Interviewer
Okay, let's talk about AI, which is in so many of your businesses and in all our worlds in different ways. It's one of the big changes, the development of Generative AI. Since you last spoke to this forum three years ago, you're in this space of course with grok, which almost everyone will know. You co founded Open AI and then left. And you've obviously got a legal battle with OpenAI and Sam Altman. I wonder if you could say something about the status of that because you were together in Saudi Arabia with the President last week with Sam Altman in.
- [13:48]
Elon Musk
The same place at the same time in the neighborhood.
- [13:53]
Interviewer
So does that mean you are pushing ahead with the lawsuit against OpenAI?
- [14:00]
Elon Musk
Yes. So I can't. I came up with the name OpenAI as an open source and as a nonprofit. And I funded AI OpenAI for the first roughly $50 million. And it was intended to be a nonprofit open source company. And now is they're trying to change that for their own financial benefit into a for profit company that is closed source. So this would be like, let's say you, you funded a non profit to help preserve the Amazon rainforest, but instead of doing that, they became a lumber company, chopped down the forest and sold the wood. You'd be like, wait a second, that's not what I funded. That's OpenAI.
- [14:46]
Interviewer
They've made some changes to their corporate structure though, haven't they since in recognition of what, of what you've said and.
- [14:55]
Elon Musk
No, that's just what they told the media.
- [14:58]
Interviewer
Okay. They have part, they have partly walked back their plan to restructure the business. I guess that's made no difference to how you feel about it. So you determined to see them in court.
- [15:15]
Elon Musk
Of course.
- [15:16]
Interviewer
Okay, well that's, that's certainly going to be one to watch. I also wanted to ask you about AI and regulation because when you were here last talking to John Micklethwait, you had some pretty strong words about the risk that AI poses. And you said that you really felt what the US was missing was a federal AI regulator that, you know, something along the lines of the Food and Drug Administration or the Federal Aviation Administration. Now you're to going clearly now in a zone where you're more. You're more on the cutting regulation side than wanting new regulators. So has your view changed on the need for an AI regulator?
- [15:53]
Elon Musk
Well, something. I don't think there should be regulators. You think of regulators like referees on the, on the field. In sports there should be some number of referees, but that you shouldn't have so many referees that you can't kick the ball without hitting one. So in many, in most fields in the US the regulatory burden has grown over time to the point where it's like having more referees than players on the field. And this is a natural consequence of an extended period of prosperity. It's very important to appreciate this. This has happened throughout history. When you have an extended period of prosperity with no existential war, there's no cleansing function for the, for, for unnecessary laws and regulations. So what happens is that every year more laws and more regulations are passed because you know, legislators are going to legislate, regulators are going to regulate, and you will get the steady pile of more and more laws and regulations over time until everything is illegal. And let me give you an example of a truly absurd situation. Under the Biden administration, SpaceX was sued for not hiring asylum seekers in the U.S. now the problem is it's actually illegal for SpaceX under iTard International Traffic and Arms regulations to hire anyone who is not a permanent resident of the United States because the premise being that they will take advanced rocket technology and return to their home country if they're not a permanent resident. So we're simultaneously in a situation where it is illegal to hire asylum seekers and is also illegal to hire asylum seekers. And the Biden's Department of Justice chose to prosecute us despite both paths being illegal. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
- [17:54]
Interviewer
But my question was specifically about a regulator for AI which you said three years ago was needed. And you said we need to be proud, proactive on the regulation of AI rather than reactive. Have you changed your mind on that?
- [18:09]
Elon Musk
No, of course not. Of course not. What I'm saying is that there should be some referees on the field, a few referees, but you shouldn't have a field jam packed with referees such that you cannot kick the ball in any direction without hitting one. So the fields that have been around for a long time, such as automotive, so aerospace, you know, the sort of food and drug industries, are over regulated. But the new fields like artificial intelligence are under regulated. In fact, there is no regulator at all.
- [18:47]
Interviewer
So there should be. Do you still think that?
- [18:51]
Elon Musk
Yes, I'm simply saying, which I think is Just basic common sense that you, that you want to have at least you want, you want to have a few referees in the field. You don't want to have an army of referees, but you want to have a few referees on any given field, in any given sport or even any given arena, industrial arena, to ensure that public safety is taken care of. But you don't want to have. So there's a proper number of referees. Like I said, it's actually very easy to visualize this when compared to sports. If the whole field is packed with referees, that would look absurd. But if there were no referees at all, your game is not going to be as good.
- [19:34]
Interviewer
Okay, so let's then talk about your new world, your, your role advising government. You are in this unique and unprecedented position of having billions of dollars worth of contracts with the federal government yourself, mostly through SpaceX and also now an insider's knowledge of it because of doge. Can you see that there is a conflict of interest or a potential conflict of interest in broad terms just through that very fact?
- [20:06]
Elon Musk
I don't think so. Actually. There have been many advisors in, throughout history and in the US Government and others who have had economic interests. And I am simply an advisor. I don't have formal power and that's it. A president can choose to accept my advice or not. And that's, that's how it goes. If there's a single contract that any of my companies have received that people think is somehow not, was, was awarded improperly, it would immediately be front page news to say the least. And, and if, if I didn't mention it, certainly my competitors would. So if you're not seeing that, then clearly it's not a conflict of interest. The. Yeah.
- [20:53]
Interviewer
There's another way though to look at it that for example, you have many competitors, whether it's companies like Boeing or companies would like to do more of the kind of work you do for NASA Blue Origin Rocket Lab. And because DOGE is in every federal government department, you or people who work for DOGE and, and you are the driving force behind it, have an insight into companies affairs and those companies relationships with the federal government.
- [21:26]
Elon Musk
Now all we do is we review the organization to see if the organization has departments that are no longer relevant and are the contracts that are being awarded good value for money? In fact, frankly the bar is not particularly high. Is there any value for money in a contract? And if there isn't, then we make recommendations to the Secretary. The Secretary can then choose to take those actions or not take those actions. And that's it. And then any action that is as a function of Doge is posted to the Doge website and to the doge.gov@doge handle on the X platform. So it's complete transparency. And I have not seen any case where, to the best my knowledge, has even been an accusation of conflict because it is completely and utterly transparent. That's it.
- [22:26]
Interviewer
And what about the international dimension? Now, let's think about Starlink. Starlink is obviously a very, very good Internet service. It's sought after all over the world. It's critical to the front line in Ukraine. It has also had more contracts coming, coming its way. And there is some evidence that companies are allowing access to it because they want to be close to the Trump administration and send the right signal. So Bloomberg broke news today that the South African government is working around the rules on black ownership in order to allow Starlink in. And that is being done on the eve of the visit that President Ramaphosa is going to make to the White House. Do you recognize that as a conflict of interest?
- [23:09]
Elon Musk
No, of course not. First of all, you should be questioning why is there, why are there racist laws in South Africa? That's the first problem. That's what you should be attacking. It's improper for there to be racist laws in South Africa. The whole, whole idea with what Nelson Mandela, who was a great man, proposed was that all races should be on an equal footing in South Africa. That's the right thing to do, not to replace one set of racist laws with another set of racist laws, which is utterly wrong and improper. So that's the deal, that all races should be treated equally and there should be no preference given to one or the other. Whereas There are now 140 laws in South Africa that give, that basically give strong preference if you're a black South African and not otherwise. And so now I'm in this absurd situation where I was born in South Africa but cannot get a license to operate in starlink because I'm not black.
- [24:05]
Interviewer
Well, it looks like that's about. It looks like that looks like that's about to change.
- [24:11]
Elon Musk
I just asked you a question. Please answer. Does that seem right to you?
- [24:15]
Interviewer
Well, those rules were designed to bring, those rules were designed to bring about an era of more economic equality in South Africa. And it looks like the government has found a way around those rules for you.
- [24:30]
Elon Musk
Ask your question.
- [24:32]
Interviewer
This is, this is your interview. Everyone wants to hear from you.
- [24:35]
Elon Musk
A question, yes or no?
- [24:36]
Interviewer
Not for me. Not for me to answer. I have got a question for you. About. About your government work, the amount of savings.
- [24:45]
Elon Musk
I do like racist laws.
- [24:48]
Interviewer
This is not for me to answer. Come on now. You wouldn't be trying to dodge a question.
- [24:54]
Elon Musk
You have to ask question. No, you answer mine.
- [24:57]
Interviewer
I say, I think if you. I'm sure you can have that conversation directly with the South African government if you want to. I want to ask you about the total.
- [25:05]
Elon Musk
I can't believe it. That's not good.
- [25:06]
Interviewer
I want to ask you about the total amount of risks. I want to ask you about the total amount that you're planning to save through Doge's work. Before the election. You said it was going to be at least 2 trillion. The number currently on doge.gov is $170 billion. That's a big change. What happened to the 2 trillion?
- [25:29]
Elon Musk
Would you expect it to happen immediately?
- [25:32]
Interviewer
Well, is it going to happen because doze is supposed to run till next July?
- [25:36]
Elon Musk
I mean, your question is absurd. In this fundamental premise, are you assuming that, that on day, you know, within a few months, there's an instant 2 trillion saved?
- [25:45]
Interviewer
No, I'm not. All I'm just asking, is that still your aim, Is that still your aim.
- [25:49]
Elon Musk
To get progressive amount of time? Have we not made good progress given the amount of time?
- [25:55]
Interviewer
That's exactly what I'm asking. So is it still your aim to go from 170 billion to 2 trillion?
- [26:04]
Elon Musk
The ability of DOGE to operate is a function of whether the government, and this includes the Congress, is willing to take our advice. We are not the dictators of the government. We are the advisors. And so we can, we can advise. And the progress we've made thus far, I think is incredible. Those teams done incredible work. But the magnitude of the savings is proportionate to the support we get from Congress and from the executive branch of the government in general. So we're not the dictators, we are the advisors. But thus far, for advisors with Doge team to their credit, has made incredible progress.
- [26:55]
Interviewer
You've talked about $4 billion a day being saved, but that, that, that won't get. Which is. And I think everyone can agree that combating waste and inefficiency in government is a very good thing. But if you add that up, it's not going to get to 2 trillion over the lifetime of DOGE. I'm sorry, the 4 billion. The 4 billion a day, if those is going to run till next July, is not going to get you to $2 trillion. But you still say it's your aim. So we'll take that as red.
- [27:33]
Elon Musk
There's this there's what Doge, I mean, I feel you're somewhat trapped in the NPC dialogue tree of a traditional journalist. So it's difficult when I'm conversing with someone who's trapped in the dialogue tree of a conventional journalist because it's like talking to a computer. So DOGE is an advisory group. We are doing the best we can as an advisory group. The progress made thus far as an advisory group is excellent. I don't think any advisory group has done better in the history of advisory groups of the government. Now we do not make the laws, nor do we control the judiciary, nor do we control the executive branch. We are simply advisors in that context. We are doing very well beyond that. We cannot take action beyond that because we are not some sort of imperial dictator of the government. There are three branches of government that, that are to some degree opposed to that level of cost savings. Nonetheless, let's, let's, let's not criticize whether there's 4 trillion and instead look at the fact that that 160 billion has been saved and more will be saved too.
- [28:52]
Interviewer
And as I said, I think everyone can agree that cutting waste and indeed fraud in any government and being responsible with taxpayers money is a very good thing. So yes, I can see, I can see that you're proud of that work. I do want to ask you about USAID and the comments that Bill Gates made the other day which, and I know that you called him, I know you've said that already. I wanted also, and I'm just.
- [29:24]
Elon Musk
Who does Bill Gates think he is to make comments about the welfare of children, given that he was quanted. Jeffrey Epstein.
- [29:32]
Interviewer
Okay. Well, he's, he's, he said he regrets those and he's, he spent a lot, he spent a lot of his own money on, on philanthropy around the world over the years. My question to you is, have you looked at the data to check if he might be right, that the cuts to USAID might cost millions of lives?
- [29:59]
Elon Musk
Yes, I'd like him to show us any, any evidence whatsoever that that is true. It's false. The what, what we found with US cuts. And by the way, they haven't all been cut. The, the parts of USAID that we found to be even slightly useful were transferred to the State Department. So they've not been deleted, they've simply been transferred to the State Department. But many, many times over with USAID and other organizations when we've, when they said oh well, this is going to help, you know, children or it's going to help some disease eradication or something like that. And then when we ask for any evidence whatsoever, I say, well, please connect us with this group of children so we can talk to them and understand more about their issue. We get nothing. We don't even try to prevent show. We should come up with a, with a show often meaning like it's sort of like, well, can we at least see a few kids? Like where, where are they? If they're in trouble, we'd like to talk to them and talk to their caregivers. And then we get the thing as a response because it's what we find is an enormous amount of fraud and graft.
- [31:11]
Interviewer
Okay, let me put this example.
- [31:13]
Elon Musk
Very little actually gets to the kids, if anything at all.
- [31:16]
Interviewer
Okay, let me put this example to you because you grew up in South Africa so you'll know the impact of HIV A. Well. And this is why I asked about the data. The US led on international efforts to combat HIV AIDS treatment prevention. And there's an initiative called PEPFAR which is credited with saving 26 million lives in the last 20 years. It was part of the foreign aid freeze. Then there was a limited waiver. Its services are disrupted and UNAID says if permanently discontinued, there will be another 4 million AIDS related deaths by 2029. So if you look at that example which is backed up BY data in 2023, 630,000 people died of AIDS related illnesses, then perhaps Bill Gates, his figures are not wrong. Millions of lives could be lost.
- [32:09]
Elon Musk
First of all, the program, the AIDS medication program is continuing. So your fund volume premise is wrong. It is continuing. Now do you have another example since.
- [32:27]
Interviewer
Elon. Not in its entirety. Not in its entirety. The, the pro. There's a limited waiver and UN AIDS have said that not all of the services that were previously funded by USAID are continuing. So that's, that's why, that's why I put that example to you.
- [32:43]
Elon Musk
Okay, well which ones aren't being funded? I'll fix it right now for.
- [32:47]
Interviewer
Okay, well actually they're all on the UN UN AIDS website, so you'll be able to see them. But mostly they are to do with, mostly they are to do with prevention. And for example, the rollout of a drug called Lena Capavir, which was hailed as one of the biggest breakthroughs against AIDS for many years, which came out last year. So if you are perhaps, I'm sure una. UNAIDS would be delighted if you're able to look at that again.
- [33:13]
Elon Musk
Yes, but if in fact this is true, which I doubt it is. Then we'll fix it.
- [33:17]
Interviewer
Okay, fine. So, finally, political, your political influence. I wondered whether you have decided yet how much you're going to spend on the, the upcoming midterms. Is it you. You spent a lot more money on the last U.S. election than you envisaged when you were speaking here three years ago. Are you going to continue to spend at that kind of level on future elections?
- [33:48]
Elon Musk
I think in terms of political spending, I'm going to do a lot less in the future.
- [33:57]
Interviewer
And why is that?
- [34:00]
Elon Musk
I think I've done enough.
- [34:04]
Interviewer
Is it, is it because of blowback?
- [34:10]
Elon Musk
Well, if I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason.
- [34:16]
Interviewer
What about political influence beyond the U.S. how often do you speak to President Putin?
- [34:24]
Elon Musk
I don't speak to President Putin.
- [34:27]
Interviewer
You've never spoken to President Putin?
- [34:31]
Elon Musk
I was on a video call with him once about five years ago.
- [34:34]
Interviewer
That's the only.
- [34:36]
Elon Musk
President Putin. Oh, you must. I get it.
- [34:41]
Interviewer
Actually, I've heard you, I've heard you speak about it. For example, in your West Point speech, you said, oh, I challenged President Putin to, to. Was it an arm wrestle? And I know the Wall Street Journal has reported your reported conversations. If you're, if you're saying they haven't happened other than once, I'll take that as red.
- [34:59]
Elon Musk
Is there a worse publication on the face of the earth than the Wall Street Journal? I wouldn't use that to line up my cage for paragraphings. That, that, that newspaper is the worst newspaper in the world. And there's, and if, you know, if there's one newspaper that should be pro capitalist, it's the one with Wall street in the name, but it isn't. So I, I have the very lowest opinion of the Wall Street Journal. Absolute nonsense. And you clearly believe the tribe that you've written, that you've read in those papers.
- [35:31]
Interviewer
I read, I read very widely. And I'm putting these questions to you so that you have an opportunity to respond to them, which you are. And, and for which we're all grateful to hear your responses. Okay. We are, we are out of time.
- [35:43]
Elon Musk
So you mentioned, you mentioned me challenging. I did so on, on the X platform. I challenged Vladimir Putin to single combat over the. But I didn't talk to him. That was a post on the X platform.
- [35:59]
Interviewer
That's why I asked you. And you've, and you've clarified and explained. Thank you. That's, that's why I was asking whether you have had reported conversations and, and you said you haven't other than a video call. Okay.
- [36:11]
Elon Musk
Legacy media lies.
- [36:13]
Interviewer
Okay, listen, I actually thought I might give Grok the last word because when I asked Grok what your hardest challenge is, it said the strain of managing multiple high stakes ventures amid financial, regulatory and public relations crises. And I wondered whether you recognize that characterization and whether you do think that this is a pivotal year in your life.
- [36:43]
Elon Musk
Well, every year has been somewhat pivotal and this one's no different. So I mean in terms of interesting things that probably are accomplished this year. The getting starship to be fully reusable so that the we catch both the booster and the ship which will be the first fully reusable orbital rocket ever in history which is would be a profound breakthrough as the essential breakthrough necessarily to make life multi planetary and ultimately become a space faring civilization. We've got neuralink which has now helped five patients restore capability using the telepathy implant where they're able to control a computer simply by thinking. We'll be doing our first patient to restore sight with our blindsight implant which is the end of the serial early next in fact that might that first patient might be in UAE since we have a relationship with UAE and the Cleveland Clinic clinic there. The I, I think we're running on the AI front. We are close to what you might call AGI or, or, or digital superintelligence. I think we'll see. We, we are seeing an explosion in digital superintelligence here and then we've got at Tesla the. But we'll be launching unsupervised autonomy basically self driving cars with no one in them in Austin next month. So it's a big year for sure. Many other things on the, in the, in the works too.
- [38:30]
Interviewer
Okay.
- [38:31]
Elon Musk
I'm a technologist first and foremost.
- [38:34]
Interviewer
Elon Musk, thank you very much for joining us here at Qatar Economic Forum. Thank you.