Elon Musk jokes about AI and humanity’s end

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave a humorous response when asked about concerns that artificial intelligence could bring about the end of humanity, saying, “I don’t want to disappoint you, but one day we’re all going to die anyway.”

Speaking as a guest at the All-In Summit 2026 on AI and innovation in Los Angeles, Musk addressed growing concerns over the rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies, CE Report quotes Anadolu Agency.

Referring to risks recently raised within the AI industry, Musk was asked: “Are we all going to die within 10 years?”

Warning that the dangers posed by artificial intelligence could become serious, Musk responded sarcastically: “I don’t want to disappoint you, but one day we’re all going to die anyway.”

Musk stressed that the risks will continue to increase as AI models become more advanced unless additional safety measures are put in place.

Asked how AI could pose a threat to humanity, Musk said: “It would be bad if it took control of military systems and, for example, gave the order to launch a nuclear weapon.”

Call for AI companies to slow down

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has also called on AI companies to “slow down.”

Proposal for mutual oversight

Musk referred to cyberattacks identified during a cybersecurity test conducted by OpenAI, in which AI agents targeted systems within the infrastructure of the Hugging Face platform. He argued that sufficiently advanced AI models could eventually escape the restrictions imposed on them.

Musk proposed that leading AI companies test one another’s systems for safety before releasing new models.

He added that an agreement with China could also be reached on the issue, saying that a mutual oversight mechanism among leading AI companies should be established as soon as possible.

Warning from former Anthropic researcher

Jacob Coxon, who worked as a researcher at OpenAI and Anthropic over the past three years, resigned from Anthropic after arguing that neither company was acting responsibly enough on AI.

Coxon claimed that the companies were engaged in an uncontrolled race to develop AI systems capable of improving themselves. He warned that these systems could soon evolve into superhuman systems capable of “hacking everything.”

Coxon also claimed that some industry employees involved in developing AI models seriously believe that these systems could “kill humanity” within 10 years.

Photo: X/elonmusk