Elon Musk is planning to build what he has described as a “robot army.” As the world slowly descends into a technocracy controlled by artificial intelligence, this isn’t all that shocking of an announcement. If it’s true, it would mean that the ruling class won’t need consent from the lower classes to conduct wars.
Wired reported earlier this week that the Tesla CEO made the comments about a “robot army” during the company’s recent earnings call. Musk also wants what he called a “strong influence” over the army. The entrepreneur and billionaire wants Tesla to be considered an innovator in artificial intelligence and software, and a builder of world-shaking robots. He’s also claimed that Tesla should be worth a lot more than it is today: up to $20 trillion, he posted in July, more than five times the current worth of Nvidia.
According to the report, Musk is pushing to increase his voting power in Tesla to around 25% so he can have a heavier hand in the army he seeks to create. He has also defended a compensation package potentially worth up to $975 billion, arguing that stronger control is necessary as the company develops humanoid robots and AI systems.
Musk reportedly told investors that his main concern is maintaining enough control over Tesla’s future direction. He said he wouldn’t feel comfortable “building a robot army” unless he has a strong say in how it operates – not total control, but significant influence.
During the call with investors, Musk said: “My fundamental concern with regard to how much voting control I have at Tesla is, if I go ahead and build this enormous robot army, can I just be ousted at some point in the future? If we build this robot army, do I have at least a strong influence over this robot army? Not control, but a strong influence … I don’t feel comfortable building that robot army unless I have a strong influence.”
Musk has argued that humanoid robots could transform society by taking over manual labor and reducing poverty.
Is this what the world needs right now? Billionaires with strong control over the robot armies they are building? This feels like another slippery slope that we could all come crashing down if it happens to actually come to fruition. What do you think? Is it one more step toward technocracy? Are we already there? Is it inevitable?
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