Musk's latest interview: Receiving a brick as a gift, talking about Mars transformation, and aiming to make AI understand human brainwaves.

1. After the Starship achieves full reusability, the next major challenge is orbital refueling, similar to aerial refueling but conducted in an orbital environment. The core lies in transferring liquid oxygen.
2. Elon Musk hopes to achieve "terraforming" on Mars. A Martian city is not only for space exploration but also serves as a backup for human civilization. Musk advocates allocating 1% of resources to interstellar projects to preserve the "seeds of life" in case of a disaster on Earth.
3. The Cybercab features a two - seat design, suitable for 1 - 2 passengers. It will not replace the Model 3 and Model Y. Tesla also plans to launch large - sized electric vehicles.
4. Musk stated that Full Self - Driving (FSD) is expected to be deployed in multiple cities in the United States this year and expanded globally next year. Tesla is pushing forward the implementation of the technology, emphasizing a "relaxed rather than serious" testing pace.
5. Musk hopes that Grok and Neuralink will achieve "concept - level telepathic interaction" in the future, skipping language and directly transmitting information through thoughts, significantly improving communication efficiency.

On July 28th, it was reported that at the recent "X Takeover" event, Elon Musk received a special gift - a brick engraved with the word "Belief". The host on - site said, "The audience has presented you with a symbolic 'brick' engraved with the words: 'This brick does fly in spirit because you have made the impossible happen.'"

This event, an annual gathering hosted by the Tesla Silicon Valley Owners Club, saw Musk appear online again to engage in a dialogue with fans for the second consecutive year. He shared the latest progress and future visions of SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, xAI, and the X platform.

He talked about how the crazy engineering of the Starship is turning the impossible into reality, the latest iterations and plans for the Optimus robot, and envisioned the future of general artificial intelligence, brain - computer interfaces, and human - machine symbiosis, as well as how humans can find meaning in life in the new era of "AI + robots".

The following is a summary of Musk's interview:

01. Engineering Challenges and Progress of the Starship

Question: The Starship is the most ambitious rocket ever built. In which aspects has it been more difficult than expected? What is the next important milestone?

Musk: From the very beginning, I anticipated that every aspect of the project would be extremely challenging, so there have been no difficulties that exceeded my expectations in the actual progress. The Starship is a crazy engineering feat in many ways. Its thrust is 2.5 times that of the Saturn V moon - landing rocket, and the future version will increase it to 3 times. The Saturn V was once the largest rocket and flying vehicle in human history. Compared with the Saturn V, the Starship has 3 times the thrust and about 2 times the weight, and its goal is to achieve full and rapid reusability, which is undoubtedly an extremely difficult engineering challenge.

When we first discussed the Starship project, not only did the outside world generally consider it an impossible task, but even within the company, mentioning it often led to teasing and was regarded as a wild idea. Now, we have moved from the "impossible" stage to the "just a bit late to achieve" stage. And turning the "impossible" into the "a bit late to achieve" is my specialty.

I suggest that those interested in the project visit the Starbase in South Texas. It's like a "magical place" with giant rockets standing there. Many visitors have said they were deeply impressed. The base is adjacent to the main road, allowing people to get up close and feel the grand scale of the rockets and the factory.

Currently, as I expected, the most difficult part of the project is developing a fully reusable orbital heat shield. This is a technology that humanity has never achieved. Traditional heat shields are consumable devices. For example, the heat shield of the space shuttle lost a large number of heat - resistant tiles after each flight and had to be refurbished before reuse. To date, no institution has developed a fully reusable orbital heat shield, and no team has built a fully reusable orbital rocket.

The Falcon 9 was the first rocket to achieve regular and economically viable booster reusability. For the Starship, in addition to solving the heat - shield problem, it also needs to achieve the landing of the upper - stage spacecraft and be captured by the "giant metal robotic arm" (nicknamed "chopsticks"). This scenario is like something out of a science - fiction movie, as it involves capturing the largest flying vehicle in human history. I expect to achieve spacecraft recovery as early as this year or at the latest in the first half of next year.

After that, we will further optimize the technology to make the Starship and the booster not only reusable but also fully and rapidly reusable, reducing the launch cost per ton of payload to less than that of the Falcon 1. By then, the cost of sending 100 tons of payload into orbit will be lower than the cost of the Falcon 1 sending half a ton of payload. This is because we only need to replenish fuel and oxidizer instead of rebuilding the rocket. It's worth noting that most of the propellant is oxygen, about 80% being liquid oxygen and 20% being fuel.

Question: What are the next technical challenges for the Starship?

Musk: After achieving full reusability, the next major challenge is orbital refueling. It is similar to aerial refueling but needs to be carried out in an orbital environment. The core is to transfer liquid oxygen (rather than fuel). This requires two Starships to dock and transfer the propellant from one to the other, and in the future, it may even be transferred to an orbital propellant depot. It may sound uncomplicated, but the actual operation is extremely challenging, and no institution has attempted it so far. Even for the technology of regular booster reusability of the Falcon 9, although we have proven its value, the industry has not widely followed suit. Orbital refueling is not impossible, but it is extremely difficult and is still uncharted territory.

02. Vision and Significance of the Martian City

Question: What will a self - sufficient city on Mars look like? How many people will it need? How will its economic and governance models be designed?

Musk: The governance model will be determined by the Martian residents themselves. Although we have some artistic concept images of the Martian city, the specific details are not yet clear. Before achieving "terraforming" on Mars and allowing humans to live outdoors, the initial residents will need to live in glass domes or similar enclosed facilities and must wear Martian space suits when going out.

I'd like to first explain the significance of building a Martian city. Some people may ask: Why not focus on Earth? My view is that 99% of human efforts should be invested in Earth, but 1% is needed to push civilization towards the stars and make humanity a multi - planetary species.

This has two meanings: Firstly, it has defensive value. If Earth encounters a major disaster, such as a world war or a meteorite impact similar to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, we need to ensure that the spark of human consciousness does not go out and guarantee the continuation of life and consciousness. Other species cannot expand life to other planets, but humans have the ability to do so for them.

Secondly, it has motivational value. Life should not be limited to solving problems; it also needs inspiring goals worth striving for. Mars exploration is like the Apollo program. Even if people didn't go to the moon themselves, they could feel the great achievements of humanity through it. The very essence of exploring the universe is inspiring enough, even without the need to go to Mars in person.

Question: Will SpaceX become an interstellar company? Are there any relevant plans?

Musk: I hope so, but it may not happen in my lifetime. However, it will eventually become an interstellar company.

03. Robotaxi and Tesla's Electric Vehicle Strategy

Question: Regarding Tesla's Robotaxi platform, how will it coexist with Tesla's existing models? Will the Cybercab replace the Model 3? Why?

Musk: The Cybercab has a two - seat design and will not replace the Model 3 and Model Y. The latter two have the capacity for four or six seats, meeting the needs of group travel, while the Cybercab is more suitable for 1 - 2 passengers. We also plan to launch large - sized electric vehicles, but this is not the occasion for a new product launch, so I can't go into details.

Question: Will Tesla have a large - scale Robotaxi fleet? When can private car owners join Tesla's sharing network?

Musk: Yes, Tesla will maintain a part of the fleet, but it will also be open to private car owners to participate. It's similar to a combination of Uber and Airbnb. Owners can decide whether to join or leave on their own, and Tesla will also directly operate some vehicles.

Question: If the Robotaxi is successful, how will Tesla address the contradiction of "manufacturing the best cars but potentially needing fewer cars"?

Musk: This is a difficult question to answer. As the CEO of a listed company, I need to be cautious in my statements. Often, the most interesting questions are the ones I can't directly respond to.

Question: How is the deployment of Full Self - Driving (FSD) progressing?

Musk: The Full Self - Driving technology is being advanced. It is planned to be deployed in multiple cities in the United States later this year and may expand to more countries next year. In the San Francisco Bay Area, people have a "fear of missing out" (FOMO) regarding the progress in Austin (referring to Tesla's launch of the autonomous taxi pilot service in Austin). Currently, the geographical fencing of the Robotaxi application is strictly restricted, and this process is full of fun. We should be more flexible in the process and not be overly formal.

Question: What is the current development status of the Roadster project?

Musk: We plan to showcase the Roadster prototype by the end of this year. This model has a limited impact on the company's finances due to its small scale, but its design is very eye - catching. It is expected to be demonstrated as early as the end of this year or at the latest early next year.

04. Potential and Plans of the Optimus Humanoid Robot

Question: You once said that the Optimus may be more valuable than Tesla's entire electric vehicle business. What is the roadmap from the current stage to wide - scale deployment?

Musk: This question involves the company's value and is quite sensitive. Currently, the design of the third - generation Optimus is suitable for mass production and is almost completely different from the second - generation. We face a choice: whether to produce thousands of the second - generation robots or pause and focus on the better third - generation. I think the third - generation is the right choice. We plan to significantly increase production capacity next year, but the production volume by the end of this year may only be in the hundreds, not thousands.

The potential market size of the Optimus could reach 20 billion or even 50 billion units. Almost everyone wants a robot similar to C3PO or R2 - D2 (two iconic robots from the science - fiction movie "Star Wars"), but with more powerful functions. Assuming an annual production of 1 billion units and a cost reduction to $20,000 per unit, the annual revenue could reach $30 trillion. This is a long - term goal, but its potential is huge. The Optimus is not only very attractive but also will have far more functions than C3PO and R2 - D2 and will be highly practical.

Question: How is Tesla's AI technology applied to the Optimus?

Musk: The Optimus uses the same autonomous driving computer as the cars (AI4, the fourth - generation autonomous driving hardware for Tesla's Full Self - Driving), and it will be upgraded to AI5 (Tesla's next - generation autonomous driving hardware) in the future. The battery pack is also similar to that of the cars. There are many commonalities in the AI technology between electric vehicles and the Optimus, but the hand design remains the main bottleneck. I firmly believe that the Optimus will become the largest - scale product ever.

Question: In which fields will the Optimus have the greatest impact? What are the specific application scenarios?

Musk: Initially, it will focus on high - value scenarios, such as providing round - the - clock assistance to people who need a lot of medical care (such as quadriplegic patients), which will completely change their lives. In addition, it can be used for dangerous or highly repetitive tasks, reducing the risk of human casualties. These are the core application directions in the initial stage.

Question: In ten years, which will be more transformative, Full Self - Driving (FSD) or the Optimus?

Musk: Obviously, it's the Optimus. This is a simple question, although Full Self - Driving is also extremely challenging.

05. Mission of AI and Grok

Question: You once mentioned that general artificial intelligence (AGI) might be achieved this year or next year. How can we tell if AGI has been achieved? What will its initial stage look like?

Musk: I'm not sure, but it might be a big thing, although its initial impact may not be significant. Currently, AI has not been able to invent useful new technologies or discover new physical laws, but this ability will eventually be achieved. If Grok or other AIs become smarter than humans, what role will humans play? Even if I don't develop Grok, the emergence of super - intelligence is inevitable, so I choose to be involved rather than just watch.

The core of AI safety lies in maximizing the pursuit of truth and having the courage to admit and correct mistakes. Grok still has a long way to go in this regard, but the pursuit of truth is not only about safety but also can drive technological innovation (such as curing cancer).

In the future, AI and robots may bring great economic prosperity, eliminate poverty, and enable everyone to access the products and services they need. However, the challenge that follows is how humans can find meaning in life when robots outperform humans in most fields.

Question: What are your core concerns in the field of AI?

Musk: The focus is to make AI practical, safe, and kind to humans, ensuring that it is beneficial to humanity. This is the most important goal.

Question: How fast is the development of AI? What are your concerns?

Musk: The development speed of AI is like a "supersonic tsunami". It's the fastest technological progress I've ever seen. Even after witnessing many technological changes, the growth rate of AI is still astonishing. It may sound scary, but it really surpasses any previous technology. The combination of AI and robots will be the key.

I'm worried that we need to ensure that AI is in line with human interests, remains friendly and beneficial, and avoid a negative outcome like in "The Terminator". We must stay vigilant to ensure a positive future for AI.

Question: What is Tesla's new goal? How is it related to AI?

Musk: Tesla's original goal was to accelerate the development of sustainable energy, and this goal is still important. I chose it over AI because sustainable energy only has benefits, such as clean air and energy sustainability. AI is a double - edged sword, but it is likely to bring great prosperity and even solve all diseases.

We need to be cautious, not complacent, and even a bit paranoid to ensure a positive future for AI. Judging from Tesla's stock price, Full Self - Driving and the Optimus could increase the company's valuation to $20 - 30 trillion, a 20 - 30 - fold increase. The analysis of ARK Invest is worth referring to, as its past predictions have been relatively accurate. This requires a lot of effort, but if executed properly, this result is possible.

06. Integration of Neuralink with Grok and the Optimus

Question: What is Neuralink's long - term vision? Is it a medical company or the beginning of human - machine symbiosis?

Musk: Neuralink is first and foremost a medical technology company. Its primary goal is to help quadriplegic patients control their phones or computers through their thoughts. Currently, eight patients are using its device, and the results are good, with positive user feedback. The plan is to increase the number of users to 20 by the end of the year.

Next year, Neuralink will launch the Blindsight implant, which can help completely blind people (even those who have lost their eyes and optic nerves) regain their vision by directly stimulating the visual cortex. At this stage, the focus is on