Musk in Davos Predicts a Future Dominated by Robots 0 12

On Thursday, the world's richest man Elon Musk made his debut at the World Economic Forum in Davos, predicting that robots will eventually surpass humans and suggesting a solution to the problem of aging humanity.

The head of Tesla and SpaceX spoke with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, changing his approach to the event. The tech billionaire had previously dismissed the annual political and business gathering as elitist and boring.

Fink opened the session by asking the audience to applaud Musk with more enthusiasm. "That was not a very enthusiastic applause. Start over," said the head of BlackRock.

Musk began with a joke about U.S. President Donald Trump's territorial ambitions, referencing a peace summit. "And I thought, 'Is this a piece? A little piece of Greenland. A little piece of Venezuela,'" he said amid quiet laughter.

He also reiterated his claim about extraterrestrial life: "I’m often asked, 'Are there aliens among us?' And I say, I’m one of them, but they don’t believe me. If anyone knows whether there are aliens among us, it’s me."

Musk also told the audience that AI and robotics will trigger an unprecedented economic boom.

"We will create so many robots and AI that they will meet human needs," he said. "I predict there will be more robots than people."

Musk stated that Tesla's humanoid robots, Optimus, will perform simple tasks in factories by the end of this year, and more complex industrial jobs within 12 months.

"Who wouldn’t want a robot, assuming it’s very safe, to look after your children, take care of your pets?" Musk asked.

Aging - "A Completely Solvable Problem"

He predicted that by the end of 2026, AI will be smarter than any individual human, and within five years, it will surpass the collective intelligence of humanity.

According to Musk, Tesla has already launched robo-taxi services in several U.S. cities and expects them to be widespread across the country by the end of the year. He added that Tesla hopes to receive European approval for such vehicles next month, but did not specify which countries.

Speaking about human longevity, Musk stated that aging is "a completely solvable problem," and predicted that once the cause is identified, it will become "incredibly obvious" to scientists.

Musk was added to the WEF schedule at the last minute, appearing a day after Trump spoke at the forum.

In previous years, Musk had called the annual gathering "boring" and criticized the WEF as an organization that is "increasingly becoming an unelected world government."

In December 2022, he said he declined an invitation to Davos because it sounded "boring."

Musk's net worth is estimated at $779 billion, according to Forbes' real-time billionaire list.