In a recent visit to Washington, D.C., Tesla CEO Elon Musk met up with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol along with U.S. lawmakers to talk tech, discussing topics such as artificial intelligence and Musk’s electric vehicle company, Tesla.
The tech mogul spoke with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to talk about potential regulations that could be imposed upon artificial intelligence. Musk, who operates both Tesla and SpaceX, has expressed interest in creating a new generative AI startup.
After meeting with Schumer, Musk posted to Twitter, “Met with @SenSchumer and many members of Congress about artificial intelligence regulation today. That which affects safety of the public has, over time, become regulated to ensure that companies do not cut corners. AI has great power to do good and evil. Better the former.”
Asked to comment on the meeting, Musk responded, “It was good. We talked about the future.”
Upon being asked to elaborate, he said they discussed “AI and the economy.”
BREAKING: Elon Musk on his meeting with Chuck Schumer: “It was good, we talked about the future.. We talked about AI, and the economy.” pic.twitter.com/MpJCmoRpml
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) April 26, 2023
Meanwhile, Musk also met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, The Washington Times reported. The president encouraged Musk to have Teska make investments in South Korea and reportedly promoted the country as a possible location for Tesla manufacturing. The two had apparently first come to know each other over a video call last year, and Musk expressed interest in visiting South Korea in the future.
Musk has decried the rapid rate of AI development that is currently underway, according to CNBC. The tech mogul attached his name to an open letter published last month by Future of Life Institute urging AI Labs to initiate a six-month halt on “the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4,” referencing the latest rendition of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter CEO helped co-found OpenAi, but reportedly exited its board in 2018 and no longer has stakes in the company. Following his departure, he criticized the company and cautioned that it is veering away from its original intentions.
Schumer described his interaction with Musk as a “good meeting.”
“We talked about Buffalo. Tesla has a large plant in Buffalo. And we talked about AI,” he told reporters.
