Why have space rockets gotten more expensive rather than less? Why don’t we have space hotels like in 2001: A Space Odyssey? How did Elon Musk not realize until just now that “money shot” also has an X-rated meaning? Why wouldn’t he let his friends invest in SpaceX initially? What Three Amigos song wraps up the panel?
Watch Musk talk at SXSW in the archived video below, as he covers tunnels, AI (more dangerous than nukes, and unregulated, which he says is insane), SpaceX, Tesla and more.
And here’s Musk crashing the Westworld panel:
Why isn’t anyone else doing what Musk is doing? “What’s your pain threshold?” he says. Asked what his greatest failure is, he talks about the first three SpaceX launches, and says if the fourth had failed they’d be dead. He had trouble getting the good engineers aboard, and he didn’t want the bad ones, so he became chief engineer by default. He jokes that business plans are always wrong, so he hasn’t has one for a while.
One popular misconception is that he’s an investor; he doesn’t invest in anything. Says he’s been on a tunnels kick for years and years, inspired by the parking lot that is the 405 freeway in Los Angeles, and wanted to start one that he could see from his office at SpaceX, so he could see the progress for himself. The first bore machine was nicknamed Godot, because for a long time it never came. Oh, and he nails the biggest problem with flying cars, but believes driverless vehicles will be common and safer by the end of next year.
What’s your favorite part of the Q&A? Did he get to your questions? Let’s discuss in comments below.
Image: SXSW
Much more of Musk:
- Finding a flamethrower-shipping loophole!
- Opening a ’50s-style drive-in eatery!
- Hoping you’ll get drunk on Mars!
