Tesla CEO Elon Musk Backs Rishi Sunak's Move To Include China In AI Summit: '…If They Are Not Participants, It's Pointless'

The U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to invite China to the AI Safety Summit, despite facing criticism, has found strong support from Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk, who also highlighted the significance of Xi Jinping-led country’s participation in ensuring AI safety.

What Happened: After closing the AI Safety Summit, Sunak went back to London and held a conversation with Musk for about 40 minutes, during which they talked about the risk posed by AI, the role the government should play, how this cutting-edge technology might impact jobs, open source advantages and disadvantages, and much more. 

The conversation between Sunak and Musk touched upon the former’s controversial decision to invite China to the AI Safety Summit. However, the tech billionaire agreed with the U.K. PM’s decision and said that it was pivotal for China to be a participant for the summit to actually be meaningful. 

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Musk emphasized the current global hubs for AI development, citing the San Francisco Bay Area and the London area as the leading centers. He underscored the importance of alignment on AI safety among major players, including the U.S., the U.K., and China, as a means of collectively shaping the future of AI.

Sunak, acknowledging the criticism he faced for inviting China, sought Musk’s perspective on whether engaging with China was the right decision, considering the complexities involved in dealing with the country. 

Musk responded unambiguously, saying, “If China is not on board with AI safety, it’s somewhat of a moot situation.” He elaborated on how China’s participation is crucial to prevent a scenario where they “jump into the lead and exceed us all.”

He stressed that having China as a participant in the summit was essential: “If they’re not participants, it’s pointless.”

Why It’s Important: China’s participation in the summit caused some disagreement because people were worried about its human rights record and its progress in AI, which has reportedly made Western countries uneasy. 

Former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss previously sent a letter to Sunak expressing her strong concerns about China’s involvement in the summit, citing how the country uses AI to limit people’s freedom. 

It is worth noting that not everyone was happy about Sunak interviewing Musk either, as they argued that the tech billionaire has been promoting misinformation and hate speech as the owner of X (formerly Twitter). 

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Rishi Sunak Photo, Courtesy No. 10 On Flickr