In a familiar critique of corporate structures, Musk also weighed in on the ideal environment for fostering such long-term, existentially focused AI. He declared, “For long-term optimization, it is better to be a private than a public company, as the latter is punished for long-term optimization beyond the reward cycle of stock portfolio managers.”

The money behind Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar empire is increasingly flowing in one direction: toward artificial intelligence.

Tesla does not currently have any plans to acquire CEO Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI, but the electric vehicle maker could invest in the company, Musk said over the weekend.