'There's No Stopping Elon Musk': Vladimir Putin Heaps Praises On Tesla CEO, With A Hint Of Caution

In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Putin also briefly chatted about AI, exhibiting the cautious stance he had maintained for years.

Vladimir Putin in an interview with ex-Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson on Thursday opened up about several burning topics, including the ongoing Ukraine war and even imprisoned Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich. During the dialogue, the Russian president even spoke about billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and his brain chip endeavour, Neuralink. Of course, as it’s the flavour of the season, artificial intelligence (AI) also found a mention during the chat.

‘I Think He Is A Smart Person’

When Carlson asked Putin about the successful human brain chip implant recently conducted by Neuralink, he responded, “Well, I think there is no stopping Elon Musk.”

Musk on Thursday shared the interview on X (formerly Twitter).

Continuing to heap praises on Musk’s determined nature, Putin said, “He will do as he sees fit.” But he did issue a word of warning: “Nevertheless, you need to find some common ground with him, and search for ways to persuade him.”

“I think he is a smart person, I truly believe he is. So you need to reach an agreement with him because this process needs to be formalised and subjected to certain rules.”

Putin & AI: A Cautious Affair

When asked about the advent of AI, Putin said that perhaps an expert in big numbers would be more suitable for comment on the matter. However, he added, “It is impossible to use AI today, like it was in the case of gunpowder back then.”

The Russian leader had a strange affair with AI over the years. If we dial back to 2018, Putin was one of the first global leaders who claimed that the nation that will lead the development of AI will eventually become the “ruler of the world.” Responding to a deepfake video of his doing the rounds on social media, Putin suggested that Russia should lead the AI master race, as reported by The Economist. 

But, then again back in 2022, Kremlin became one of the first major government institutions to ban OpenAI’s ChatGPT just after its much-publicised launch. Putin said that just like ChatGPT, “Western AIs” trained on English data ran the risk of cancelling Russia’s perspective on the world if unchallenged.

It appears that over the years, the Russian leader has yet to change his cautious stance on AI.