Elon Musk on AI
26 quotes from Elon Musk on the wall, 2014 to 2026, newest first. Each one is verbatim and links to where it was said. Sources include Business Insider, TESLARATI, Fortune. Topics: culture, hype, money. Open on the wall.
- 2026
Vastly more powerful and effective than a press release
Elon Musk responding on X to Google CEO Sundar Pichai's announcement of Gemini 4 Argon, praising direct CEO posts over press releases, October 2026.
Propagating super intelligence to the stars is a great success condition for a biological bootloader
Elon Musk, in an X post referenced in an October 2026 Mother Jones article about his Texas chip factory, describing humanity's role relative to AI.
Elon Musk Hopes His New Factory Will Help AI Supplant Life on Earth
We don't have just universal basic income, we have universal high income
Elon Musk speaking to reporters after a White House meeting of tech leaders, September 2026, on AI creating an age of abundance.
Elon Musk says AI promises wealth and great healthcare for all, but jobs will look different
The amount of compute in space will obviously round up to 100% of all compute
Elon Musk posted on X in September 2026 about SpaceX's orbital AI compute ambitions, amid Google's Project Suncatcher satellite launch.
Elon Musk’s AI Grok Bot can now handle banking while your Tesla FSD handles the road
If Grok Bot messes up, we will make you whole
Elon Musk replied on X in August 2026 to a user asking whether to give Grok Bot access to his bank accounts.
Elon Musk’s AI Grok Bot can now handle banking while your Tesla FSD handles the road
We don't want a Terminator situation
Elon Musk testifying in his lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman, referencing the 1984 film Terminator while discussing Tesla's robots, April 2026.
Judge Tells Elon Musk to Cool It on the Robot Apocalypse Talk - businessinsider.com
Are you open to the idea of bidding on the OpenAI IP with me and some others?
Text message from Elon Musk to Mark Zuckerberg on Feb. 3, 2025, revealed in unsealed court filings from the Musk-OpenAI lawsuit, proposing a joint bid for OpenAI.
In the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale
Elon Musk, in SpaceX's February 2026 announcement of its acquisition of xAI, on the rationale for building AI data centers in space.
- 2025
We'll have AI that is smarter than any one human
Elon Musk predicted AI smarter than any single human by the end of 2025, quoted in Gary Marcus's Substack essay reflecting on three years of ChatGPT, November 2025.
Three years on, ChatGPT still isn't what it was cracked up to be – and it probably never will be
There won't be operating systems, there won't be apps
Elon Musk on The Joe Rogan Experience, October 2025, describing an AI device replacing smartphones within five to six years.
If AI and robots don't solve our national debt, we're toast
Elon Musk at the All-In Summit, September 2025, on the US national debt.
There are only engineers, researcher is a relic term from academia
Elon Musk announced on X in July 2025 that xAI would eliminate the 'researcher' job title in favor of 'engineer'.
Only a 20% chance of annihilation
Elon Musk, on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast released February 2025, discussing the probability of AI leading to human extinction.
Elon Musk Says There's 'Only a 20% Chance of Annihilation' With AI
- 2024
Going to start an AI game studio to make games great again
Elon Musk announcing an AI-powered game studio under xAI on X, November 2024.
More humanoid robots than there are people
Elon Musk speaking at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, October 2024, predicting robot populations by 2040.
You can't just convert a non-profit into a for-profit, that is illegal
Elon Musk commenting on reports that OpenAI plans to restructure from a non-profit to a for-profit company, September 2024.
That's nothing, you're going soft, try harder
Elon Musk's reply to Yann LeCun on X during their public feud, May 2024.
- 2023
Elon Musk speaking at the DealBook Summit in November 2023 about Sam Altman's brief ouster from OpenAI.
Elon Musk says OpenAI may have made a dangerous discovery — and that's behind the Sam Altman drama
There's a small likelihood of it annihilating humanity
Elon Musk, quoted at a Wall Street Journal event and cited in a BBC article on AI risk, May 2023.
AI 'godfather' Yoshua Bengio feels 'lost' over life's work - BBC
Elon Musk at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit on 23 May 2023, on the shortage of GPUs for AI.
There's a non-zero chance of it going Terminator
Elon Musk at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council Summit in London on May 23, 2023, on the risks of advanced AI.
Maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe
Elon Musk describing his planned chatbot TruthGPT in April 2023.
Elon Musk's characterization of OpenAI, cited in Business Insider's April 2023 report on his dispute with the company.
- 2022
A close match for my philosophy
Elon Musk describing longtermism, an offshoot of effective altruism, quoted in a 2022 WIRED essay by Timnit Gebru.
Effective Altruism Is Pushing a Dangerous Brand of ‘AI Safety’
- 2017
Guys, I've had enough. This is the final straw
Elon Musk's nine-minute reply to Sutskever and Brockman's "Honest Thoughts" email, 20 Sep 2017. He left OpenAI's board in February 2018.
- 2014
Elon Musk at MIT, 2014: "With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon."
Elon Musk: artificial intelligence is our biggest existential threat