Elon Musk says ‘digital superintelligence’ could exist in 5–6 years

Tesla CEO stresses the importance of AI regulatory oversight

Elon Musk said Wednesday that he believes "digital superintelligence" would exist within the next five or six years. 

"I would be surprised if there is not digital superintelligence in roughly the five- or six-year timeframe," the billionaire said in a conversation on Twitter Spaces with Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif.

"If this was a Netflix series or something, I'd say that the season finale would be a showdown between the West and China and that the series finale will be AGI," Musk continued. 

Khanna remarked on how fast that timeline was, saying he had not realized it would happen that quickly. 

ELON MUSK INTRODUCES XAI, A NEW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COMPANY

Elon Musk frowning

Elon Musk, billionaire and chief executive officer of Tesla, at the Viva Tech fair in Paris, France, on Friday, June 16, 2023.  (Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Musk explained later in the conversation that the definition of digital superintelligence is "that it’s smarter than any human, at anything."

"That’s not necessarily smarter than the sum of all humans – that’s a higher bar, to be smarter than the sum of all humans," he added, admitting that thinking about a future with AI stresses him out.

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Rep. Ro Khanna

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., is interviewed by CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images in his Cannon Building office on Friday, February 10, 2023.  ((Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) / Getty Images)

The SpaceX leader also stated again that he was an advocate for regulatory oversight of the emerging tech.

"You can’t just go make a nuclear barrage, and everyone thinks that’s cool – like, we don’t think that’s cool. So there’s a lot of regulation around things that we think are dangerous," he told the bipartisan lawmakers.

Rep. Mike Gallagher

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., is seen outside the U.S. Capitol after the House voted to send an articles of impeachment resolution against President Biden to committees on Thursday, June 22, 2023.  ((Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) / Getty Images)

Musk and others signed an open letter earlier in the year calling for a moratorium on the development of all AI systems more advanced than OpenAI's GPT-4.

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The conversation came just hours after Musk announced the formation of his new artificial intelligence firm xAI