Rishi Sunak defends Elon Musk ahead of AI summit face-to-face

The British PM, Rishi Sunak, stood by his choice to have a live conversation with tech mogul Elon Musk at the conclusion of his two-day AI Safety Summit.

It is anticipated that the affluent individual who possesses Tesla, SpaceX, and X will participate in the entirety of the summit for two consecutive days. Subsequently, the individual will engage in a private conversation with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Thursday night. Here, they will discuss their endeavors in controlling the potential hazards associated with modern artificial intelligence.

In my view, if you pay attention to Elon Musk's words, he's a person who has been discussing the probable danger of AI and its threats to humanity for quite some time," Sunak explained during an interview with POLITICO's Power Play podcast.

"However, he expressed deep enthusiasm today regarding the phenomenal advantages that AI has to offer. My aim is to provide people with a sense of comfort and confidence."

When asked again if it was suitable for Sunak to give a unique greeting to someone who is disliked for spreading false information and supporting unverified posts, the Prime Minister restated that Musk has been advocating for limits on AI for quite some time, and is also a notable creator of AI technology. Therefore, he has extensive knowledge of this area.

Sunak remarked that the summit was not solely centered around him. He pointed out that the U.K. had brought together over 100 national, corporate, and civil society groups for the event.

When asked for the third time if Musk's management style of X is a problem due to the fact that the social network has a history of containing false information, Sunak praised the recent actions taken by the U.K. government to make social media platforms delete harmful content.

In the United Kingdom, we have enacted a legislation known as the Online Safety Act. In my opinion, it is at the forefront of what other nations have implemented.

Sunak stated that we and the regulators in this region hold the ability to force big social media corporations to eliminate damaging or unlawful content from their networks. If they fail to do so, the regulator has the power to levy penalties against them.

When questioned about whether he would be conveying this message directly to Musk, Sunak responded by stating that it's not solely about him. The matter extends far beyond Musk and encompasses our children's safety. Sunak brought up other platforms like Meta, emphasizing that this is an issue faced by various major social media platforms. The priority is to protect our children online while they navigate the streets. Sunak's new act grants both himself and the regulator with adequate powers to eliminate any damaging content.

In the past, Musk has advised being careful with AI. He endorsed a letter that cautioned, "AI systems that match human intelligence levels can have significant consequences for humanity and society."

Today, the enthusiastic technological billionaire Elon Musk opted not to speak and had no explosive remarks. One individual who participated in the same discussion as the owner of X reported that Musk remained silent.