Elon Musk Foresees an AI-Dominated Future, Believes China will Command Significant AI Capabilities

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, opened up about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous driving during his virtual address at the World AI Conference in Shanghai on July 6, 2023. Musk expressed a willingness to share Tesla's self-driving technology to foster industry growth. In addition, Musk recognized the impactful contributions of skilled Chinese professionals in the AI sector, forecasting a future where China emerges as a dominant force in artificial intelligence.

Musk anticipates a future ruled by AI, where the balance could tip towards machines outnumbering humans, ushering in a period of unprecedented prosperity. Tesla's humanoid robots, currently in development, are expected to relieve humans from mundane and dangerous tasks, requiring no exceptional intelligence to do so.

One key application of AI is in autonomous vehicles. Musk reaffirms Tesla's readiness to license its technology to other automakers, enabling them to liberate their customers from the tedium of driving and granting them more freedom and time. By improving vehicle utilization rates, autonomous cars can transform usage patterns, a revolution Musk hopes to catalyze by sharing such technologies more widely.

Tesla's self-driving technology is approaching full autonomy, with little human intervention required in the US road tests. Musk is optimistic about achieving Level 4 or Level 5 autonomous driving capabilities by the end of the year.

The CEO also touched upon Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a smarter-than-human level of AI, and the idea of a regulated “Artificial Super Intelligence” (ASI) created from thousands or millions of advanced computers. Despite the risks associated with this superintelligence, Musk urges everyone to work towards ensuring a positive future.

Expressing admiration for the intelligence and talent in China, Musk is confident that the nation will excel in AI along with other sectors, ensuring a powerful AI capacity in the future. He concluded by expressing gratitude for the invitation to the conference and looking forward to future interactions