Elon Musk says ‘civilization is going to crumble’ if declining birth rates continue during Wall Street Journal event where he claimed that ‘drugs age you’
- Elon Musk, 50, says more children are needed to save civilization during a livestreamed interview with Wall Street Journal tech reporter Joanna Stern
- The father-of-six said ‘there are not enough people’ on the planet
- The billionaire tech mogul also said drugs ‘age you’ during the wide-ranging interview that he participated in remotely from the Tesla Gigafactory in Texas
- He made the comments after discussing how companies such as Tesla could over time begin using robots as a substitute for human workers
- ‘If people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble,’ he said. ‘Mark my words’
- The SpaceX founder slammed President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan, and called it ‘insane’
Elon Musk – the richest person on Earth – says ‘civilization is going to crumble’ if declining birth rates continue and also claimed drugs age people during a Wall Street Journal event.
The tech mogul insisted that the world – with a global population of 7.9 billion – is in dire need of more humans during an interview with journalist Joanna Stern on Monday.
‘There are not enough people,’ the 50-year-old said of a planet populated by 7.9 billion earthlings. ‘I can’t emphasize this enough, there are not enough people.’
He made the comments after discussing how companies such as Tesla could over time begin using robots as a substitute for human workers, calling labor ‘the foundation of the economy.’
‘I think one of the biggest risks to civilization is the low grow rate and the rapidly-declining grow rate,’ he continued. ‘And yet so many people – including smart people – think there are too many people in the world and think the population is growing out of control. It’s completely the opposite.
‘Please look at the numbers, if people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble. Mark my words.’
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk participated in a broadcasted Wall Street Journal interview Monday night remotely from the under-construction Tesla Gigafactory in Texas
The father of six, including X Æ A-12 (pictured) said if people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble. Mark my words’
Speaking remotely from the under-construction Tesla Gigafactory in Texas, the Tesla chief executive and father of six said he’s doing his part to populate the Earth.
‘I’m trying to set a good example,’ he said, breaking into a smile. ‘I’m trying to practice what I preach.’
Musk has twins and triplets with ex-wife Justine Musk, and a toddler named X Æ A-12 with ex-girlfriend Grimes.
Musk, who in 2018 puffed on a marijuana blunt during an interview with Joe Rogan, also quipped about narcotics when asked to share his perspective on growing older and mind-altering drugs.
‘I don’t think dropping acid makes you age less,’ he said, laughing. ‘I think drugs probably make you age more.’
In 2018, he defended the video that showed him smoking marijuana, saying it proved he’s not a regular user.
Pictured: Musk stands with then-fiance Talulah Riley and his twin sons Griffith (left) and Xavier right at Nasdaq’s opening bel to celebrate Tesla’s initial public offering on June 29, 2010 in New York. He has five children with ex-wife Justine Musk and a son with ex-girlfriend Grimes
‘I do not smoke pot,’ Musk said in an interview with 60 Minutes. ‘As anybody who watched that podcast could tell, I have no idea how to smoke pot or anything. I don’t know how to smoke anything, honestly.’
The SpaceX founder also chimed in about President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan, and slammed the initiative as ‘insane.’
‘Rules and regulations are immortal,’ he said. ‘They don’t die. The vast majority of rules and regulations live forever… there’s not really an effective garbage collection system for removing rules and regulations, so this hardens the arteries of civilization where you are able to do less and less over time.’
The SpaceX founder also chimed in about President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan, and slammed the initiative as ‘insane’
Monday’s interview came at the heels of a New York Times expose that included interviews with Tesla whistleblowers who claimed Musk misled buyers and undermined safety with the car’s Autopilot driving system, which was previously blamed for fatal crashes.
The former workers have come forward with damning allegations that the world’s second richest man contributed to the risks posed by the Autopilot system deaths because of Musk’s desire to use only cameras and ditch sensors.
At least 10 people have been killed in eight accidents in which Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged since 2016, according to reports from the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency.
Tesla began rolling out its Autopilot software in 2015, with features including autosteer, auto lane change, automatic emergency steering and side collision warning, and auto park
Tesla has been clear about the capabilities of its Autopilot technology, and on its website notes that its vehicles are not self-driving
When Tesla’s Autopilot technology began in 2015, it initially incorporated cameras, radar and sensors.
However, Musk, 50, earlier this year tasked engineers with building a car that relied only on cameras for its autopilot feature, sources told The New York Times.
‘They said the Autopilot team continued to develop the system using radar and even planned to expand the number of radar sensors on each car, as well as exploring lidar — ‘light detection and ranging’ devices that measure distances using laser pulses,’ the outlet reported.
‘But Mr. Musk insisted that his two-eyes metaphor was the way forward and questioned whether radar was ultimately worth the headache and expense of buying and integrating radar technology from third parties,’ according to four people who worked on the Autopilot team.
‘Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability are intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment,’ the company said.
‘While these features are designed to become more capable over time, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous.’
Elon Musk in August admitted that Tesla’s new self-driving software is ‘not great’ but the firm is trying to fix it
Tesla did not respond to a DailyMail.com request for comment.
Musk in August admitted that Tesla’s new self-driving software is ‘not great’ but the firm is trying to fix it.
The billionaire entrepreneur tweeted that the company was working on improving the much-awaited update to its self-driving software, Full Self-Driving (FSD), ‘as fast as possible’.
FSD is an upgrade package to Autopilot, the company’s suite of of advanced driver-assistance system features.
‘FSD Beta 9.2 is actually not great imo [in my opinion], but Autopilot/AI team is rallying to improve as fast as possible,’ Musk tweeted.
The Musk-led Tesla is also under investigation over claims it failed to properly notify shareholders and the public of fire risks associated with solar panel system defects
Separately, the U.S. securities regulator has opened an investigation into Tesla over a whistleblower complaint that the company failed to properly notify its shareholders and the public of fire risks associated with solar panel system defects over several years, according to a letter from the agency.
The company’s shares dropped by more than 3 percent early Monday after the investigation became public.
The probe raises regulatory pressure on the world’s most valuable automaker, which already faces a federal safety probe into accidents involving its driver assistant systems.
Concerns about fires from Tesla solar systems have been published previously, but this is the first report of investigation by the securities regulator.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed the Tesla probe in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by Steven Henkes, a former Tesla field quality manager, who filed a whistleblower complaint on the solar systems in 2019 and asked the agency for information about the report.
‘We have confirmed with Division of Enforcement staff that the investigation from which you seek records is still active and ongoing,’ the SEC said in a September 24 response to Henkes, declining his request to provide its records.
Former Tesla field quality manager Steven Henke filed a whistleblower complaint on the solar systems in 2019 and asked the agency for information about the report.
The SEC official said the letter should not be taken as an indication by the agency that violations of law had occurred.
Henkes, a former Toyota Motor quality division manager, was fired from Tesla in August 2020 and he sued Tesla claiming the dismissal was in retaliation for raising safety concerns.
In the SEC complaint, Henkes said Tesla and SolarCity, which it acquired in 2016, did not disclose its ‘liability and exposure to property damage, risk of injury of users, fire to shareholders’ prior and after the acquisition.
It is not clear how many of those remain after Tesla’s remediation program.
Henkes, a longtime quality manager at Toyota’s North American quality division, moved to SolarCity as a quality engineer in 2016, months before Tesla acquired SolarCity. After the acquisition, his duties changed and he became aware of the widespread problem, he told Reuters.
In the SEC complaint, Henkes said Tesla and SolarCity, which it acquired in 2016, did not disclose its ‘liability and exposure to property damage, risk of injury of users, fire to shareholders’ prior and after the acquisition
Several residential customers or their insurers have sued Tesla and parts supplier Amphenol over fires related to their solar systems, according to documents provided by legal transparency group PlainSite
Henkes, in the SEC complaint, said he told Tesla management that Tesla needs to shut down the fire-prone solar systems, report to safety regulators and notify consumers. When his calls were ignored, he proceeded to file complaints with regulators.
‘The top lawyer cautioned any communication of this issue to the public as a detriment to the Tesla reputation. For me this is criminal,’ he said in the SEC complaint.
Litigation and concerns over faulty connectors and Tesla solar system issues stretch back several years. Walmart in a 2019 lawsuit against Tesla said the latter’s roof solar system led to seven store fires. Tesla denied the allegations and the two settled.
Business Insider reported Tesla’s program to replace defective solar panel parts in 2019.
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