So, total side note but... I've started playing Stellaris. And I can't help but notice that Elon Musk's logic is just bullshitting his way through bad Stellaris fanfiction.
Stellaris is a fine game, but it has a number of "bullshit" issues because... its a video game. Like, AoE2 has swords made out of gold, or Factorio allows you to build a circuit board out of iron. That sorta thing. Things that make sense "in game universe" but you kind of ignore them because we all recognize that video games have limitations, and we're just playing the game for fun and not for anything serious.
This AI issue? Just the AI Uprising event from Stellaris (
https://stellaris.paradoxwikis.com/Situations#AI-Related_Incidents).
Trying to terraform Mars because "Earth is Dying??" (but not having the option to Terraform Earth?? to fix our own world?) That's just how the video game works, you can only terraform uncolonized planets in Stellaris, its not an option to terraform an already occupied planet.
"Energy Backed Currency" ?? That's just Stellaris energy credits.
Etc. etc. By accidentally finally playing Stellaris, I think I finally understand Musk. He's just a Stellaris fanboy it seems. Including all the bullshit and stupidity inside of the game, but now applied to the real world (where things won't work the way he thinks).
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That being said, I'm not sure if Elon Musk even needs to solve the AI problem. He's just a Stellaris fanboy, always has been, and tries to attract others into enjoying Sci-fi concepts in the real world. That's his brand. He's not actually about solving problems as much as he is about just doing SciFi things (whether or not they make sense or work is irrelevant). There seem to be enough fanboys who will give him money (ie: buy stocks or bonds, or his products) over this alone.
From that perspective, spending $20 Million on a bunch of "AI Sounding Technology" is all Musk needs to raise more money. Its like Solar Roofs, or Tesla Bot / Optimus, or "Full Self Driving". None of these techs are going to happen, but its just part of the grift to raise more money from sci-fi fans. IE: I'm sure Elon Musk will raise $100 Million from fanboys, recuperating the $20 Million GPU costs.