Elon relentless pursuit of cutting-edge technologies has spawned a new controversy surrounding his desire for a 25% stake in Tesla’s voting shares. Elon motivations, as revealed by Tesla new head of investor relations, Travis Axelrod, seem to stem from an earnest yet contentious objective: safeguarding humanity from the potential perils of unchecked AI advancement.
In a meeting with J.P. Morgan analysts, Axelrod shed light on Musk’s rationale, suggesting that the voting control ambition is “motivated primarily by the wish to protect humanity from the potentially negative implications of imprudent or improper use of AI technology.” Elon, ever the visionary, is hell-bent on ensuring a robust governance structure around AI development, driven by the not-so-unreasonable assumption that artificial intelligence could surpass human-level intelligence in the coming years.
“Mr. Musk is focused on having a strong enough voice at the company (via control of a sufficient number of voting shares) such that he could ensure a proper governance structure around the use of AI, given the not unreasonable assumption that AI could surpass human-level intelligence in the next several years,” Axelrod elaborated, perhaps attempting to quell concerns over Elon motives.
There’s a twist! Travis also revealed that Tesla’s AI endeavors, dubbed “real-world AI,” are fundamentally distinct from the pursuits of Musk’s enigmatic startup, xAI. While Tesla’s efforts revolve around the integration of robotics and AI, exemplified by the ambitious Full Self-Driving (FSD) system and the highly anticipated humanoid robot, Optimus, xAI is treading a different path.
According to J.P. Morgan, xAI is “pursuing a very different approach to AI which is more generalized and focused on scientific discovery, with different problem sets, engineering tasks, and data requirements, resulting in different applications, end-users, and end-markets.” This distinction was purportedly made to allay concerns about potential conflicts between the two entities, as some AI engineers might be wary of the high-stakes implications of “real-world AI” mishaps.
As the AI narrative unfolds, Elon quest for control over Tesla’s voting shares has ignited a fiery debate. Some applaud his foresight in advocating for responsible AI development, while others question the concentration of power and express skepticism about his true intentions. Regardless of where you stand, one thing is certain: the AI revolution is well underway, Elon is determined to steer its course, one autonomous vehicle or humanoid robot at a time.