Elon Musk warns AI could eclipse human intellect in years — and human control may not survive the decade
Elon Musk told The Economist’s editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes that artificial intelligence is on a fast track to outperform humanity. Speaking Thursday, the xAI founder predicted that AI could surpass the combined intellectual capacity of humanity within roughly five years, and that humans are unlikely to retain control of the technology within about a decade.
“There really won't be anything that AI can't do better than humans, apart from being human, perhaps,” Musk said, adding that the most likely near-term outcome is “an age of amazing abundance where anyone can have anything they can think of.” He noted we’re already in 2026 and challenged listeners to “see where we stand in 2036,” underscoring both the opportunity and the existential risk he sees in advanced AI.
Musk said he no longer believes it’s realistic to stop AI’s momentum. “I can't see any way to really stop this incredible momentum of AI and robots,” he said, though he conceded that even if a “stop button” existed, pressing it might not be desirable given the potential for widespread abundance.
Practical safety proposals
Rather than a shutdown, Musk urged coordinated industry action: he proposed regular safety and security meetings among the world’s leading AI companies, plus limited early cross-access to each other’s frontier models so labs can detect dangerous capabilities before public release. If companies ignore serious risks, Musk suggested governments should be prepared to step in.
Friction with OpenAI, praise for Anthropic
Musk used the conversation to renew critiques of OpenAI’s leadership and direction. He said OpenAI “got turned into an $800 billion for-profit company with closed source,” departing from the nonprofit, open-source mission he had expected. In May, a California jury rejected Musk’s $150 billion lawsuit accusing OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman of abandoning that nonprofit mission, finding the defendants not liable.
By contrast, Musk praised Anthropic and its co-founder Dario Amodei, calling him “very principled” and saying the Anthropic team appears well-intentioned. He acknowledged critics — including Altman — who accuse Anthropic of leveraging fear-based marketing around its Claude models, but said rival firms must be willing to cooperate on safety despite personal and business disputes. “Set aside our personal differences for the good of the world,” he said.
Why crypto readers should care
Musk’s timeline and safety proposals matter for crypto projects that integrate AI — from automated trading bots to decentralized agents and tokenized AI services. Rapid advances could reshape markets, power new crypto-native infrastructure, and accelerate regulatory pressure on both AI and blockchain ecosystems. His call for cross-lab cooperation — and for governments to act if companies fail to mitigate risks — signals the kind of oversight and coordination that could soon influence crypto-AI development and governance.
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