Elon Musk Makes Surprise Davos Debut with Ambitious Tesla Targets and Critique of U.S. Solar Tariffs
Elon Musk made a surprise appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, marking his first participation in the annual gathering after years of dismissing it as elitist and detached from everyday concerns. The Tesla and SpaceX chief used the platform to outline bold new goals for his companies, including plans to begin selling humanoid robots next year, while also criticising U.S. solar tariffs and highlighting Europe’s imminent approval for Tesla’s self-driving technology.
Musk Challenges U.S. Energy Policy
In a conversation with World Economic Forum interim co-chair Larry Fink, who also leads BlackRock, Musk said the United States could generate all its electricity needs from solar energy alone. He argued that vast, underused areas in states such as Utah, Nevada and New Mexico could power the entire country if equipped with solar infrastructure.
“Unfortunately, the tariff barriers for solar are extremely high, which makes the economics of deploying solar artificially expensive,” Musk explained. His comments contrast with those of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who has criticised renewable energy projects and prioritised fossil fuel production.
Trump’s freeze on approvals for major wind and solar projects has left thousands of megawatts of capacity stalled, at a time when demand for electricity is soaring due to the growth of artificial intelligence and data centres.
From Science Fiction to Reality
The wide-ranging discussion between Musk and Fink touched on robotics, artificial intelligence, reusable rockets and Musk’s early fascination with science fiction. At one point, the two joked about aliens, Mars colonisation and the “Terminator” film series.
“We need to be very careful with robotics,” Musk said. “We don’t want to find ourselves in a James Cameron movie. Love his films, but we don’t want to be in Terminator, obviously.”
Musk predicted that robots would eventually outnumber humans, sparking an era of massive economic expansion. He also repeated his long-standing vision of human life on Mars, quipping, “People ask if I want to die on Mars, and I say, ‘Yes, but not on impact,’” which drew laughter from the Davos audience.
Rising Scrutiny over AI Content
Musk’s appearance came amid intensifying scrutiny of his AI ventures. Governments and regulators from Europe to Asia have launched investigations into explicit content generated by his xAI chatbot, Grok, on the social media platform X. Several countries have imposed temporary bans or demanded stronger safeguards to prevent the spread of illegal material, adding pressure to Musk’s rapidly expanding AI operations.
with inputs from Reuters