You certainly don’t offend Rishi Sunak when you say that Elon Musk’s visit came at just the right time. The tech billionaire traveled to Great Britain this week to discuss the risks of artificial intelligence (AI) with the British Prime Minister and other politicians. This was a welcome change for Sunak, as he finally didn’t have to worry about inflation, boat refugees or his miserable poll numbers.
The Prime Minister created a very special stage around the AI summit in Bletchley Park, with scientists, politicians and entrepreneurs whom he invited. You didn’t have to look far through the guest list to know who Sunak’s star guest was: Elon Musk.
The fact that the prime minister has a certain admiration for the Tesla boss and owner of Space-X and X became clear on Thursday evening at the latest when he interviewed Musk for 50 minutes. It was a remarkable setting that the Prime Minister and his advisors had come up with: Sunak and Musk were sitting in the historic Lancaster House in London – and the Prime Minister asked the entrepreneur the questions. Sunak had taken off his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves. Opposite him sat Musk, all in black, and in his own words: the Cassandra when it comes to AI.
“The most destructive force in history” and a “magical Jeannie”
Even before the talk with the Prime Minister, Musk had made it clear that, despite all the odds, he viewed the technology as the “biggest threat to humanity.” At Lancaster House, Musk became specific. When Sunak downplayed the risks and pretended that AI would enrich many jobs, Musk replied: “There will come a point where you don’t need a job – you can have a job if you want it for personal satisfaction , but the AI will do everything.” What humanity is experiencing is nothing other than “the most destructive force in history.”
When Musk said that, Sunak laughed out loud. An embarrassed laugh, as if he couldn’t believe what the other person had just said. Musk smiled and compared AI to a “magic Jeannie” that grants you wishes, not just three, but an infinite number of them.
At times that evening, Sunak seemed like an inquisitive boy who was letting a guru explain the world to him. His interest in new technologies is well documented; the Prime Minister is generally open to AI. People who work with Sunak describe him as Tech guy. That evening in London, however, he played a different role: As head of government, he had to protect people from the negative consequences of AI, Sunak said again and again.
The conversation was not broadcast live; Downing Street was apparently concerned that Musk might say something that would put Sunak in a bad light. But the video, which was then published on Musk’s Platform X, was one thing above all for the Prime Minister: PR on his own behalf. In any case, Musk thanked Sunak and said that the AI summit “will go down in history as very important.”