This summer, eight years ago, Elon Musk took the stage at a National Association of Governors’ Conference before he was fascinated by his billions and his vision for the future.
At the invitation of then Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, Musk, who appeared on the Republican invitation known for his moderate politics, warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence. Tesla CEO and SpaceX founders are also calling for stricter government regulations on emerging technologies.
“I keep ringing the alarm bell,” Musk told the governor. “But until people see robots down the street and kill people, they don’t know how to react because it looks so etheric.”
Musk flashed his overconfidence, but the prediction that almost every car produced in 10 years later would be autonomous is not nearly concrete, but there were also humble notes. Musk assumed Tesla’s stock price was too high, as he often did back then.
The careful and practical tone of masks that day in 2017 is little like the destructive and omnipresent forces he fell into Big Technology and President Donald Trump’s second administration. There were other elements that premonitored the political persona of modern musk. His complaints about how the media covers his business practices, and his broader criticism of the government’s reluctance, which he believed to have increased their usefulness.
But the same Musk, who once worried about the weaponization of AI, later bought Twitter, rebranded the social media site X, paired it with AI software that spreads unfounded political smears and conspiracy theories. The man who has raised public expectations about self-driving cars and space travel while lowering Tesla shareholders’ expectations has since sought a performance-based compensation package of over $50 billion.
And that day, Musk, who was amazed that “I live very comfortably in a world that George Orwell thought was super crazy,” was now a “special government employee” with almost unprecedented latitude and control. It’s working.
Empowered by Trump, he cut costs under the newly created government efficiency, or Doge umbrella, and quickly disorients and fires federal employees. He oversees moving initiatives. Those implementing Musk’s vision are using AI tools to identify cost savings, as reported in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and others.
A Quinnipiac University poll released this week said 55% of registered voters surveyed have too much power “in making decisions that affect the United States.”
“Oh no,” Democrat former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe was asked if he had imagined what Musk had imagined before, assuming such a prominent and heavy White House role. He told NBC News.
“Everyone wants government waste,” added McAuliffe. “But I hope they put more thought processes in the cutting process. If you have a sledgehammer for fundraising, there are things that have a real impact on our country.”
McAuliffe, who passed the chairman of the National Association of Governors (NGA) to Sandoval at a 2017 conference held in Providence, Rhode Island, said he was asked to respond with detailed recollections of the appearance of the mask. He was the only governor of nearly 20 of them. Others recalled the question and answer session, but they found it unremarkable and said they refused to comment on Musk’s tensions in politics.
“I remember Elon Musk talking at the NGA meeting. He remembered worrying about AI. Former Republican Governor Dennis Dougard wrote in an email. Sorry I don’t remember anything more. He asked the mask at the event if it would have a negative impact on the sale of electric vehicles.
Scott Pattison, who was the executive director of the NGA at the time, said he did not recall Musk’s speech and claimed he would not have been invited if he were the fire truck today.
“If you thought he was nonpartisan and didn’t really support one political candidate and ideology, you’d say we wouldn’t have a mask,” Pattison wrote in an email. . “It shows just how much it has changed and Musk has turned from a business person to a political actor.”
A White House spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
“Main Event” for Bipartisan Governors
Sandoval, which had hanging a $1.25 billion tax incentive package to land a Nevada Tesla plant, is now musk to help launch an NGA chairman’s initiative focused on technology and innovation. I brought it in. Musk’s appearances at the bipartisan meeting were hyped up in advance and served as the closing session of the meeting.
“Now for the main event,” Sandoval welcomed the mask and primed her colleagues. “Everyone has been waiting for me to finish, so I think we can get to Elon. I’m really excited to introduce you to a man who is definitely an anthropomorphism of technological innovation.”
Refusing a request for comment on this article, Sandoval insisted on removing the tie after the business casual musk arrived on stage with an open shirt collar.
“If I did that, will you be okay?” Sandoval asked Musk.
With a casual and friendly atmosphere set, Sandoval has been eased into Q&A. (“What drives you?”) He provided a friendly prompt. (“Tell me a little more… Make your life a lot more paper.”) And he asks Musk to respond to tax credit critics like Sandoval was pushed to land the Tesla project in Nevada. I did.
“These incentives were a bit exaggerated,” Musk said, claiming they were not aware of their full value until the press conference announced their contract. “They took what was totaled over 20 years and sounded like Nevada was writing us a $1.3 billion check, and I’m still waiting for that check. I got lost in the email. Have you become that? But as you know, this is how the press works.”
Sandoval asked Musk how governors should think about innovation when developing public policy. Musk responded with warning that years of regulations could hinder innovation.
“It’s always important to keep in mind that regulations are immortal and unless someone actually goes and kills them, they never die,” Musk said. “And they get a lot of momentum. So, in many cases, they can introduce regulations for all the right reasons, but then, when no one goes back and no one else means anything anymore, no one goes to them I’ll remove it.”
“The pen is stronger than the sword.”
Despite concerns about mask overregulation, he called for “active” regulation of AI in response to Sandoval’s questions about the future where robots will replace the human workforce.
The exchange led to Musk’s comments about the threat that most people thought was far away. Musk also led aside when it came to regulating air travel. Given how Musk’s Doge portfolio includes the Federal Aviation Administration that regulates SpaceX, the comments have new relevance. The Musk’s SpaceX team is helping to research improvements in air traffic control systems, Transport Secretary Sean Duffy announced on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Trump administration fired hundreds of FAA employees this week.
“When I asked the average person, I was like, “Hey, do you want to get rid of the FAA and take a chance on a manufacturer that doesn’t cut the corners of the aircraft? …Hey, hell no. Musk told the governor in 2017.
He continued. That kind of thing. ”
In later years, Musk, calling for the federal sector to oversee AI development, last week asked the federal government to “remove the entire institution.”
McAuliffe recalled Musk’s call to actively promote AI regulations, even as it made them uneasy.
“You want to bring in people who are always local and people who are better than Elon?” McAuliffe said. “On the one hand, it’s very futuristic. On the other hand, he scared many of the governors in the room.”
McAuliffe added: “He’s gotten so dark in relation to AI issues.”
The most unsettling exchange of sessions in AI came when other governors had the opportunity to ask questions. At the time, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, specifically pressed Musk on his claim that AI presented “a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization.”
Musk responded first by predicting that AI could launch a war by running fake news, spoofing email accounts and fake press releases, and manipulating information.
“Pen,” he added. “It’s more powerful than a sword.”
Musk then provided an elaborate scenario based in part on the 2014 attack on a Malaysia Airlines flight that was defeated by a Russian-made rocket launcher in eastern Ukraine.
“I want to emphasize, I don’t think this has happened. It’s purely hypothetical. I’m digging a grave here,” Musk said with a laugh with the audience.
He continued. “If there was AI, if the goal of AI was to maximize the value of a portfolio of stocks, one way to maximize value is to go long in defense, shortages of consumers, and wars. And how can you do that? Well, you know, hack into some Malaysian airline aircraft routing servers, route it onto the war zone, then the enemy’s Send me anonymous hint that the aircraft is flying above now.”
