Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk opened up about what keeps him up at night, the immigration situation in the U.S., aliens, and more.
What Happened: On Monday, Musk had a conversation with Mike Milken, the chairman of the Milken Institute at MI Global. Their conversation was posted live on the tech billionaire's social media platform, X, formerly Twitter.
Here's a brief on what was discussed:
Immigration Has Gotten Worse
"I'm a big believer in immigration, but to have unvetted immigration at large scale is a recipe for disaster," Musk said. According to him, the government should "greatly expedite legal immigration," but have secure borders.
Starlink Will Move The GDPs Of Countries
The tech billionaire said that Starlink is a technology that improves productivity per person, and that's what GDP is all about. Musk said that in today's world, many people cannot sell and learn new things without proper connectivity and that's where Starlink comes into play.
If You Have To Die Somewhere, Might As Well Be Mars
Musk said he would have accomplished to go to Mars this year if he was ready to die on impact, but that isn't the case. He wants to explore Mars before the end.
Making Life Multi-planetary Is Important
He said there are various explanations for "why we don't see aliens." He said what's stopping other civilizations from expanding beyond their solar system. "If you don't become a multi-planet civilization then you're simply waiting around until you die from a self-inflicted wound or some natural disaster," he added.
Musk further said the point is not to move from Earth and let the planet die, but to remove the redundancy so that no single event can be the end of our civilization.
Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox.
Almost No AI Use In Space Exploration
When asked if artificial intelligence can accelerate his efforts in space, the tech mogul said that one of the places where AI has almost to use is in the field of space exploration. "So, SpaceX uses basically no AI."
How To Remember Things
While speaking about how the education process should be, Musk said that our mind is "constantly trying to forget things." Therefore, the mind will only remember things if it "can establish relevance or there's a strong emotional element."
What Keeps Musk Up At Night And What Gives You Joy
The tech billionaire said that his kids give him joy. "I'm not saying that's the reason to have kids," he said, adding, "But I see them as the greatest source of joy in my life."
When it comes to things that keep him up at night, Musk said anything that's a civilizational risk like plummeting birth rates, and anything that undermines the foundation of democracy.
Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.
© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.