Elon Musk says artificial intelligence is advancing so quickly that humans are unlikely to remain fully in control of it within the next decade. Speaking Thursday with Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist, the xAI founder said, "there really won't be anything that AI can't do better than humans, apart from being human, perhaps."
Musk estimated that AI systems could surpass the combined intelligence of all humans within roughly five years, putting the milestone around 2031 based on the pace of development he described in the interview.
"I Can't See Any Way to Really Stop This"
Pressed on whether the trajectory could be slowed or redirected, Musk was blunt: "I can't see any way to really stop this incredible momentum of AI and robots." Rather than framing that as purely alarming, he argued the more probable outcome is a period of material abundance, saying, "the most likely outcome is an age of amazing abundance where anyone can have anything they can think of."
To manage the risks along the way, Musk proposed that leading AI companies hold regular safety meetings and give competing labs early access to frontier models before public release, so rivals can stress-test systems ahead of launch. He added that governments could step in if companies fail to adequately address safety risks on their own.
A Rivalry With OpenAI in the Background
Musk's comments come against the backdrop of his ongoing rivalry with OpenAI, the company he co-founded before departing and later challenging in court. In May 2026, a California jury rejected Musk's $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI, a case that had named OpenAI leadership including Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. Musk has also sparred publicly with Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei over the direction of AI safety research.
Despite the legal and competitive friction between the labs racing to build increasingly capable models, Musk suggested cooperation remains possible when the stakes are high enough. "At the end of the day, if we have to talk, we'll talk," he said, adding that rivals could "set aside our personal differences for the good" if AI development reaches a point that demands coordinated action.
