Elon Musk’s Appearance at the World Economic Council
Elon Musk surprised many with his appearance at the World Economic Council on Thursday, although it didn’t start off smoothly. He opened with a joke about Greenland that fell flat and stumbled through a few moments of awkwardness. Despite that, Musk revealed his ambitions to sell humanoid robots and achieve international approval for “fully self-driving” cars by late 2027.
After a rather tepid response from the audience in Davos, Switzerland, Larry Fink, co-chair of BlackRock, urged the crowd to try again, stating, “That wasn’t a big applause. Let’s start over.”
Known for his sharp criticism of European politics and support for right-leaning parties like Germany’s AfD, Musk moved on to humor about President Trump’s new peace initiative.
“I heard about the creation of the Peace Summit, and I thought, oh, that’s the work,” he quipped, emphasizing the last word. “A small piece of Greenland. A small piece of Venezuela.”
The audience didn’t react much to the joke, which followed Trump’s announcement of the “Framework for Future Agreements on Greenland.”
At one point, Musk expressed a desire to visit Mars during his lifetime, even mentioning that he’d like to die there—but not in a mishap.
In a lighthearted moment, he claimed he was an alien. “I’m often asked, ‘Are there aliens among us?’ And I’ll say I’m one, but they don’t believe me,” he joked. “If anyone knows if there are aliens among us, it’s me.”
Fink responded somewhat awkwardly, asking, “Are you from the future? I understand.”
Musk asserted that a future where robots outnumber humans is the only way to ensure a high quality of life for everyone. Fink then prompted, “So how do we achieve human goals in that scenario?”
Musk replied, laughing off the tension, stating, “Well, nothing is perfect.” The audience responded with nervous laughter.
As the discussion wrapped up, Fink labeled Musk as an inspiration and a friend. Musk announced that Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, will be ready for public sale by the end of next year, which led to a 1.7% increase in Tesla shares that same day.
This week, Musk noted the process of launching Optimus Bots and self-driving CyberCabs into mass production would be “painfully slow.” However, he mentioned his ambitions for Tesla to receive supervised approval for its “full self-driving” technology in Europe by next month, with a similar timeline in China.
The company has already introduced robotaxis in select U.S. cities, including Austin, Texas, although these still have passengers monitored during their rides.
On another note, Musk stated that SpaceX aims to demonstrate the complete reusability of its Starship rocket—the largest space launch vehicle—this year. They have already made strides with the Falcon 9, which has flown over 20 missions using the same booster.
A fully reusable Starship would dramatically lower the “cost of access to space,” Musk explained, likening it to airplane travel. “If we had to scrap the aircraft after every flight, it would be a very expensive flight,” he remarked.
Additionally, Musk forecasted that by the end of this year, artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence, and within five years, AI could outnumber humanity. He stated, “With essentially free or near-free ubiquitous AI and robotics, we’re going to see a truly unprecedented global economic explosion.”
