Walter Isaacson: Elon Musk Is Driven by Cosmic Missions—Space, Energy, and Safe AI

Walter Isaacson: Musk is driven by mission more than any person I've ever seen.

“It's not only mission, it's cosmic missions. He's got three really big missions.

One is to make humans a space-faring civilization, make us multiplanetary or get us to Mars.

Number two is to bring us into the era of sustainable energy, to bring us into the era of electric vehicles, solar roofs and battery packs.

And third is to make sure that artificial intelligence is safe and is aligned with human values.

Every now and then, I'd talk to him, and we'd be talking about Starlink satellites or whatever, or he would be pushing the people in front of him at SpaceX and saying, if you do this, we'll never get to Mars in our lifetime.

Then he would give the lecture of how important it was for human consciousness to get to Mars in our lifetime.

And I'm thinking, okay, this is the pep talk of somebody trying to inspire a team. Or maybe it's the type of pontification you do on a podcast.

But on the 20th time I watched him, I realized, okay, I believe it. He actually is driven by this.”

Lex Fridman Podcast, September 10, 2023