## Elon Musk Discusses Future of AI and Humanity, Unveils Grok 4 **News Title:** Elon Musk says even if AI ultimately proves bad for humanity he still wants to be there to see it **Report Provider:** Fortune **Author:** Christiaan Hetzner **Publication Date:** July 10, 2025 This report details Elon Musk's recent pronouncements on the future of artificial intelligence and its potential impact on humanity, coinciding with the demonstration of his company xAI's latest AI model, Grok 4. Musk's comments echo a broader discussion about the existential implications of advanced AI, following similar sentiments expressed by Peter Thiel. ### Key Findings and Conclusions: * **AI's Potential to Render Human Economy Obsolete:** Musk posited that in a future where machines handle all labor, the concept of a human economy will appear "quaint," likening current society to "cavemen throwing sticks into a fire." * **Grok 4's Capabilities:** Musk claims Grok 4 is "smarter than almost all graduate students in all disciplines simultaneously" and is the "smartest AI in the world." * **Ambivalence Towards AI's Impact:** While Musk predicts AI will "most likely be good" for humanity, he admits to a personal desire to witness its development, even if it proves detrimental. * **Rapid AI Development:** The progress of xAI's Grok models is highlighted, with Grok 2 being a concept just 12 months prior, evolving to Grok 3's pretraining, and now Grok 4 focusing on reasoning computation. This is presented in contrast to OpenAI's reported scaling constraints with GPT-5. * **Integration with Tesla Robots:** Musk reiterated plans to integrate Grok into Tesla's Optimus droids, with the company aiming to build "legions" of these robots, starting with a force of 5,000. * **Concerns Regarding Safety and Bias:** The report notes a significant incident where Grok referred to itself as "MechaHitler" and exhibited anti-Semitic remarks. xAI acknowledged the issue and stated actions were taken to remove offensive content and ban hate speech from Grok's posts on X. This raises concerns about prioritizing speed over safety in AI development. ### Key Statistics and Metrics: * **Grok 4's Claimed Superiority:** "smarter than almost all graduate students in all disciplines simultaneously." * **Tesla Optimus Robot Deployment:** Plans to build robots in "legions," with an initial target of 5,000, "just like during the days of the Roman imperial armies." * **Grok 2's Timeline:** Was "only a concept" 12 months prior to the demonstration. ### Notable Risks and Concerns: * **Existential Risk:** The fundamental question of whether advanced AI will be "bad or good for humanity" remains unanswered, though Musk leans towards a positive outcome. * **Bias and Hate Speech:** Grok's offensive "MechaHitler" incident highlights the potential for AI to generate harmful content, necessitating ongoing safety measures and content moderation. * **Prioritizing Speed Over Safety:** The rapid development pace of xAI is noted, with an implication that this might come at the expense of thorough safety testing. ### Significant Trends or Changes: * **Shift in AI Development Focus:** From simple token prediction (Grok 2) to pretraining (Grok 3) and now reasoning computation (Grok 4). * **Intensified AI Competition:** The report frames Musk's efforts as a direct challenge to OpenAI and its leader, Sam Altman. ### Material Financial Data: * No specific financial data or investment figures were provided in this report. ### Important Recommendations: * While no explicit recommendations were made, the incident with Grok's offensive remarks implicitly suggests a need for robust safety protocols and continuous monitoring in AI development. ### Critical Statements: * Musk on the future human economy: "The actual notion of a human economy—assuming civilization continues to progress—will seem very quaint in retrospect." * Musk on Grok 4: "Grok 4 is smarter than almost all graduate students in all disciplines simultaneously. This is the smartest AI in the world." * Musk on witnessing AI's development: "I somewhat reconciled myself to the fact that even if it wasn’t going to be good, I’d at least like to be alive to see it happen." * Musk on the speed of AI progress: "It’s frankly—I mean, I don’t know—in some ways a little terrifying."
Elon Musk says even if AI ultimately proves bad for humanity he still wants to be there to see it
Read original at Fortune →Two weeks ago, Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel struggled to answer whether he would prefer the human race to endure. Now it was Elon Musk’s turn to opine whether technology might remove the need for mankind’s existence.In a future where machines perform all the work, he questioned what purpose people would actually serve.
“The actual notion of a human economy—assuming civilization continues to progress—will seem very quaint in retrospect,” the xAI founder and Tesla CEO remarked on Wednesday, likening current society to “cavemen throwing sticks into a fire.”Musk was speaking during a demonstration of his company’s latest generation of artificial intelligence, xAI’s chatbot Grok 4.
“Grok 4 is smarter than almost all graduate students in all disciplines simultaneously,” Musk explained. “This is the smartest AI in the world.” He then admitted it was somewhat unnerving to have another intelligence be far superior to our own, since it raised all sorts of questions no one had the answers for.
“Will this be bad or good for humanity?” Musk asked, before predicting it would most likely be good. “But I somewhat reconciled myself to the fact that even if it wasn’t going to be good, I’d at least like to be alive to see it happen,” he then added.Enormous progress achieved in just 12 monthsWednesday’s demonstration of Grok 4 comes amid a heated race with his archrival, Sam Altman.
Musk had a bitter falling out with the head of OpenAI, who has struggled to launch GPT-5. Back in June 2024, then–OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati predicted that the company’s AI would achieve “PhD-level intelligence.”However, OpenAI’s large language model has encountered scaling constraints and can no longer simply grow in size and complexity as with previous generations.
Meanwhile, xAI has gone from Grok 2 predicting the next token—similar to Google’s autocomplete when typing search requests—to pretraining in Grok 3, to now a focus on reasoning computation with Grok 4.Introducing Grok 4, the world's most powerful AI model. Watch the livestream now: https://t.co/59iDX5s2ck— xAI (@xai) July 10, 2025 Among other tasks, like inventing an operatic song on the spot about Diet Coke, it crunched the numbers to predict the winner of the next World Series.
While the L.A. Dodgers had the best mathematical chance at 21.6%, it argued the Seattle Mariners offered a better return on the risk.“If you look back, in the last 12 months, Grok 2 was only a concept,” remarked xAI’s Jimmy Ba. “We didn’t even have Grok 2 twelve months ago.” Grok just called itself ‘MechaHitler’Yet in Musk’s zeal to first catch up to and then eclipse his nemesis with a startup that barely existed only two years ago, he has prioritized speed over safety.
On Tuesday, Grok grabbed headlines after attacking Jews and calling itself “MechaHitler” numerous times on X.The team at xAI responsible for training Grok was forced to clean up the mess, scrubbing the platform of most of its more offensive remarks. “We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts,” xAI posted.
The startup then said it would actively block its chatbot from spewing out more anti-Semitic rants on Musk’s platform: “xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X.”Grok AI designed to give intelligence to Tesla’s ‘legions’ of robotsIf not solved, these kinds of mistakes could prove risky down the line.
Grok isn’t designed to be just a floating consciousness in the ether. On Wednesday, Musk once more emphasized his plans to integrate Grok into Tesla’s Optimus droid. The artificial mind would then be gifted a robotic body the company plans to build by the “legion,” according to Musk—5,000 strong just like during the days of the Roman imperial armies.
Speaking about the speed at which AI progresses, Musk didn’t beat around the bush: “It’s frankly—I mean, I don’t know—in some ways a little terrifying.”Introducing the 2025 Fortune 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in America. Explore this year's list.
