Tech billionaire Elon Musk has predicted that artificial intelligence (AI) could become more intelligent than the combined capabilities of all humans within the next five years, while warning that the technology’s rapid advancement may be impossible to halt.
Speaking in an interview with The Economist published on Thursday, Musk said AI is on course to outperform humans in virtually every field, although he believes it will never replace the unique experience of being human.
“I think AI may exceed the sum of human intelligence in around five years. There really won’t be anything that AI can’t do better than humans, apart from being human, perhaps,” he said.
According to the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive, the rise of advanced AI is more likely to usher in an era of extraordinary prosperity than one of destruction, enabling people to meet nearly every material need through intelligent systems.
“The most likely outcome is an age of amazing abundance, where anyone can have anything they can think of. This may sound preposterous, but here we are in 2026, let’s see where we stand in 2036,” he added.
Musk noted that the pace of AI development has accelerated to a point where it is no longer under the control of any individual, company or government—including himself.
Although he has repeatedly warned about the dangers associated with artificial intelligence in the past, Musk said he has come to accept that the technology’s continued evolution is inevitable.
“I still think there’s risk associated with AI and robots. It’s not zero. I guess I’ve come to my philosophical conclusion to look on the bright side. I can’t see any way to really stop this incredible momentum of AI and robots,” he said.
“Let’s enjoy the ride is my philosophy at this point, because there seems to be just an inexorable progress here in AI and in robots that even if I wanted to stop it, I don’t, I couldn’t,” Musk added.
When asked whether he still believed there was a 10 to 20 per cent chance that artificial intelligence could eventually contribute to human extinction, Musk acknowledged that the possibility still exists but indicated that his outlook has become more optimistic.
The billionaire also renewed his call for stronger cooperation among leading AI developers on issues of safety and security.
He proposed that major AI companies should hold weekly or bi-weekly meetings to examine newly developed AI models before they are released to the public.
“The competitors can keep each other honest,” Musk said, arguing that rival AI firms are often better positioned than governments to assess whether a new system presents a significant security risk.
He stressed that the industry should move quickly to establish such collaborative oversight mechanisms, noting that breakthroughs in AI are occurring at an unprecedented pace.
“There are so many AI breakthrough announcements, sometimes multiple per day,” he said.
Despite Musk’s optimism about AI’s potential, some artificial intelligence experts remain sceptical of his prediction, arguing that current AI systems still lack a genuine understanding of the world and do not yet replicate the full complexity of human intelligence.
