(ReclaimingAmerica.net) – Sounding a new global wave of alarm over artificial intelligence, billionaire Elon Musk has warned that the AI technology now poses a “civilizational risk” to humanity and failing to tackle that would cause “severe consequences.”
Musk’s warning came in brief comments to reporters after he and several other Big Tech tycoons met with US lawmakers in the nation’s capital to discuss the challenges created by the advancements in artificial intelligence.
Besides Musk, who is the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and the owner of X, formerly Twitter, the event was also attended by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, among others.
The tech tycoon’s private summit with US senators in Washington, DC, took up the topic of “AI and what to do about it,” according to a report by Breitbart News.
The private meeting was a bipartisan event hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD), Martin Heidrich (D-NM), and Sen. Todd Young (R-IN). Leftist activist Randi Weingarten, the American Federation of Teachers president, also attended it.
“The consequences of AI going wrong are severe, so we have to be proactive rather than reactive,” the X owner told reporters upon leaving the private summit.
“This meeting may go down in history as being very important for the future of civilization,” Musk said.
He added that new legislation would “probably” result from the Big Tech – US Senate summit, but he couldn’t say anything about its timeframe.
The Tesla CEO added it was a “good sign” when almost all of those present raised their hands when Senator Schumer asked who supported the regulation of AI development.
Musk was then asked to dwell on the chance that machines equipped with artificial intelligence could obliterate humans.
“The question is really one of civilizational risk. It’s not like … one group of humans versus another. It’s like, hey, this is something that’s potentially risky for all humans everywhere,” Musk said.
“There is some chance that is above zero that AI will kill us all. I think it’s low. But if there’s some chance, I think we should also consider the fragility of human civilization,” Musk stated.
