Elon Musk Projects AI to Eclipse Human Intelligence Within Two Years

In a candid exchange on X spaces, Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, forecasted a near-future where artificial intelligence surpasses the intellect of the smartest humans by as early as next year.

Despite technical setbacks, Musk's discussion with Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norway's wealth fund, underscored the rapid advancements in AI, including developments at his own startup, xAI.

Musk's bold prediction spotlights the accelerating pace of AI technology, setting a potential timeline for the advent of artificial general intelligence (AGI) that could redefine human-computer interaction.

Elon Musk Forecasts AI to Surpass Human Intelligence by 2026 in X Spaces Dialogue

On Monday, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, predicted that artificial intelligence will be smarter than the smartest human by next year or in 2026, Reuters (via Money News) reported.

In a wide-ranging interview on X spaces marred by numerous technological glitches, Musk also told Norway wealth fund CEO Nicolai Tangen that the availability of electricity limited AI and that the next version of Grok, his xAI startup's AI chatbot, would be trained by May.

"If you define AGI (artificial general intelligence) as smarter than the smartest human, I think it's probably next year, within two years," Musk said when asked about the timeline for development of AGI.

The billionaire, who also co-founded OpenAI, said a lack of advanced chips was hampering the training of Grok's version 2 model.

Musk founded xAI last year as a challenge to OpenAI, which he has sued for abandoning its original mission of developing AI for humanity's benefit rather than profit. OpenAI denies the allegations.

Musk stated that training the Grok 2 model required approximately 20,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs and that the Grok 3 and subsequent models will require 100,000 Nvidia H100 chips.

Elon Musk Discusses AI, Electric Vehicle Competition, and Resolves Union Strike in Sweden

Musk founded xAI last year as a challenge to OpenAI, which he has sued for abandoning its original development mission. However, he added that while a lack of chips has been a major constraint on AI development thus far, the electricity supply will be critical in the next year or two.

Speaking of electric vehicles, Musk reiterated that Chinese automakers are "the most competitive in the world" and pose "the most difficult competitive challenges" to Tesla.

He has previously warned that Chinese competitors will demolish global rivals without trade barriers.

Musk also addressed a union strike in Sweden against Tesla, saying, "I think the storm has passed on that front."

Tangen stated that Norway's $1.5 trillion sovereign wealth fund, one of Tesla's largest shareholders, met with the EV company's chairman last month to receive an update on the situation.

Photo: SXSW/YouTube Screenshot