Tesla CEO Elon Musk: ‘biggest existential danger to humanity is…’

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently warned that the biggest danger to humanity is artificial intelligence (AI) being influenced by the “woke mind virus.” In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the tech billionaire said that “the more I learn, the more insidious and deadly it appears.” Explaining further, Musk wrote “Even for Grok, it’s tough to remove, because there is so much woke content on the internet.”
The term “woke mind virus” is often used by critics of wokeness, which refers to being aware of issues like racism, sexism, and social injustice. Some critics believe this ideology has become extreme and harmful.
In the post, Musk also gave an example, saying that when other AI models were asked whether global thermonuclear war or misgendering was worse, they chose misgendering. He wrote, “The existential problem with that extrapolation is that a super-powerful AI could decide that the only 100% certain way to stop misgendering is to kill all humans.”
He wrote:
This is what I mean by the woke mind virus. The more I learn, the more insidious and deadly it appears.
Maybe the biggest existential danger to humanity is having it programmed into the AI, as is the case for every AI besides @Grok. Even for Grok, it’s tough to remove, because there is so much woke content on the internet.
For example, when other AIs were asked whether global thermonuclear war or misgendering was worse, they picked the latter. The existential problem with that extrapolation is that a super powerful AI could decide that the only 100% certain way to stop misgendering is to kill all humans …
Musk shared these views in response to a video clip from an interview, where he argues that the “woke mind virus” is dividing society through identity politics and discrimination, even while claiming to do the opposite. He said “It actually amplifies racism, sexism, and all the -isms.”
Stating that this has created an “artificial mental civil war”, he said that the woke mind virus is “not based on merit”.