NEW YORK -- Elon Musk sat down with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a conversation that dove into the dangers and opportunities of artificial intelligence on Thursday, capping off the UK鈥檚 inaugural AI Safety Summit.
鈥淎I will be a force for good most likely,鈥� Musk said. 鈥淏ut the probability of it going bad is not zero percent.鈥�
The two men spoke in an interview-style chat from a stage at Lancaster House, a government venue in central London often used for diplomatic purposes, before the conversation was opened up to questions from journalists. Musk has been present throughout the two-day event held mainly at Bletchley Park, the headquarters for the Allied Forces codebreaking program during World War II, along with US Vice President Kamala Harris, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and other notable politicians and global tech leaders.
鈥淚鈥檓 glad to see at this point that people are taking AI seriously,鈥� Musk said to SUnak. 鈥淭hanks for this summit. I think it will go down in history as quite important.鈥�
In the first day of the event, over 25 countries and the European Union signed the Bletchley Declaration, agreeing to work together to create a united approach to oversight in efforts to deploy AI technology in a 鈥渉uman-centric, trustworthy and responsible鈥� way, underscoring the 鈥減otential for serious, even catastrophic, harm鈥� that many tech leaders have expressed concern over.
Chinese officials were also present at the event, according to Reuters.
MUSK AND WORLD LEADERS
Musk鈥檚 conversation with Sunak is one of numerous chats with world leaders the SpaceX and Tesla CEO has joined in the past few months. Musk met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in September, weeks before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. Netanyahu met with Musk to discuss artificial intelligence and antisemitism on the Musk-owned social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, at a time Musk was warring with the Anti-Defamation League.
Musk also sat down with French President Emmanuel Macron numerous times in the past year. Other big names that recently made time for Musk in their schedule include Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in June, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in September.
At the event Thursday, Musk noted that if the AI powerhouses such as the United States and the UK 鈥渁re aligned on AI safety, that is a good thing.鈥� And he suggested other global powers such as China should also remain involved in discussions.
He compared AI to a magic genie and noted that fairy tales with magic genies that grant wishes 鈥渄on鈥檛 end well鈥� and cause people to 鈥渂e careful what you wish for.鈥�
Musk has increasingly become a fixture in international affairs, making headlines not only for his meetings with heads of state but also for the provision 鈥� or lack thereof 鈥� of SpaceX鈥檚 Starlink satellite services in war-torn regions.
STARLINK IN WAR ZONES
The billionaire received backlash this week for pledging to provide aid organizations in Gaza with Starlink satellite service as the besieged strip struggles with internet connectivity. The Israeli Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Hamas 鈥渨ill use it for terrorist activities.鈥�
鈥淧erhaps Musk would be willing to condition it with the release of our abducted babies, sons, daughters, elderly people. All of them! By then, my office will cut any ties with starlink,鈥� Karhi posted.
Musk made the announcement on X, which he owns, after US Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that 鈥渃utting off all communication to a population of 2.2 million is unacceptable.鈥�
鈥淪tarlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza,鈥� Musk said in a post replying to Ocasio-Cortez.
In Walter Isaacson鈥檚 new biography of the eccentric billionaire titled 鈥淓lon Musk,鈥� it was revealed that Musk secretly ordered his engineers not to turn on his company鈥檚 Starlink satellite communications network near the Crimean coast last year to disrupt a Ukrainian sneak attack on the Russian naval fleet. CNN was provided the excerpt, which has since been amended, according to a version now published by The Washington Post.
Musk鈥檚 decision, which left Ukrainian officials begging him to turn the satellites on, was driven by an acute fear that Russia would respond to a Ukrainian attack on Crimea with nuclear weapons, a fear driven home by Musk鈥檚 conversations with senior Russian officials, according to Isaacson.
SUNAK鈥橲 AI SUMMIT
The billionaire鈥檚 presence at the UK鈥檚 summit brings an increased level of media attention to the event that is key to Sunak鈥檚 hope for global AI regulation.
鈥淲e are seeing the most disruptive force in history here,鈥� Musk said during the meeting. Sunak and Musk discussed how digital super-intelligence could affect the public and require regulation the same way industries such as aviation and cars that require regulation.
鈥淚 agree with the vast majority of regulations,鈥� Musk said, noting he quibbles with 1 percent or fewer regulations. 鈥淎 referee is a good thing.鈥�
At the same time, Musk reiterated his 鈥渇airly utopian鈥� belief that AI could create an 鈥渁ge of abundance鈥� with 鈥渘o shortage of goods and services.鈥� He says AI could lead to a future where 鈥渘o job is needed鈥� and people enjoy a universal high income. He mentioned a world of AI tutors and companionship for people like his son who has learning disabilities and difficulty making friends.
The next AI safety summit are set to be hosted by Korea and France and are scheduled for 2024.
