There's no better place in the world for technology start-ups than Silicon Valley; there's such an incredible well of talent and capital and resources. The whole system is set up to foster the creation of new companies.
— Elon Musk
We can't have, like, willy-nilly proliferation of fake news. That's crazy. You can't have more types of fake news than real news. That's allowing public deception to go unchecked. That's crazy.
I do think there should be some regulations on AI.
Man has the power to act as his own destroyer - and that is the way he has acted through most of his history.
The key to making things affordable is design and technology improvements, as well as scale.
Generally, the view that I've had on Twitter is if you're on Twitter, you're in, like, the meme - you're in meme war land. If you're on Twitter, you're in the arena. And so, essentially, if you attack me, it is therefore OK for me to attack back.
Starting a business is not for everyone. Starting a business - I'd say, number one is have a high pain threshold.
I will never be happy without having someone. Going to sleep alone kills me.
The value of beauty and inspiration is very much underrated, no question. But I want to be clear: I'm not trying to be anyone's savior. I'm just trying to think about the future and not be sad.
The pace of progress on Mars depends upon the pace of progress of SpaceX.
We polled Tesla owners, do you want autopilot disabled or not. Not one person wanted it disabled. That's pretty telling.
Stationary storage will be as big as the car business long term. The growth rate will probably be several times what it is for the car business.
If we're going to have any chance of sending stuff to other star systems, we need to be laser-focused on becoming a multi-planet civilisation.
If you look at our current technology level, something strange has to happen to civilisations, and I mean strange in a bad way. And it could be that there are a whole lot of dead, one-planet civilisations.
A company is a group organized to create a product or service, and it is only as good as its people and how excited they are about creating. I do want to recognize a ton of super-talented people. I just happen to be the face of the companies.
We could definitely make a flying car - but that's not the hard part. The hard part is, how do you make a flying car that's super safe and quiet? Because if it's a howler, you're going to make people very unhappy.
If we could do high-speed rail in California just half a notch above what they've done on the Shanghai line in China, and if we had a straight path from L.A. to San Francisco, as well as the milk run, at least that would be progress.
The problem with car dealerships is you've already decided what you want to buy before you even go there, and you're really just going there to talk through some annoying negotiation.
I think whenever something is - whenever there's something that affects the public good, then there does need to be some form of public oversight.
It's very important to like the people you work with. Otherwise, your job is going to be quite miserable.
We're already cyborgs. Your phone and your computer are extensions of you, but the interface is through finger movements or speech, which are very slow.
I care very deeply about the people at Tesla. I feel like I have a great debt to the people of Tesla who are making the company successful.
It is true that SpaceX is partially a government contractor, but it would be unfair to say that SpaceX is entirely a government contractor.
Particularly Instagram, people look like they have a much better life than they really do. People basically seem like they are way better-looking than they really are, and they are way happier-seeming than they really are.
I wish we could be private with Tesla. It actually makes us less efficient to be a public company.
If you don't have sustainable energy, you have unsustainable energy. The fundamental value of a company like Tesla is the degree to which it accelerates the advent of sustainable energy faster than it would otherwise occur.
I think you should always bear in mind that entropy is not on your side.
The goal of Tesla is to accelerate sustainable energy, so we're going to take a step back and think about what's most likely to achieve that goal.
The factory is the machine that builds the machine.
I'm trying to construct a world that maximises the probability that SpaceX continues its mission without me.
I think we have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness to make sure it continues into the future.
People should pursue what they're passionate about. That will make them happier than pretty much anything else.
From an evolutionary standpoint, human consciousness has not been around very long. A little light just went on after four and a half billion years. How often does that happen? Maybe it is quite rare.
I had so many people try to talk me out of starting a rocket company, it was crazy.
On one of the SpaceX flights, we had a secret payload: a wheel of cheese. We flew to orbit and brought it back, so it was the world's first 'space cheese.' It was, in part, a tribute to Monty Python.
I think there should be regulations on social media to the degree that it negatively affects the public good.
We are the first species capable of self-annihilation.
The X is an amazing car, but we kind of got carried away with the art and technology. Obviously, you want great art. You want great technology. But we did get a little distracted from our mission, which was to advance the cause of electric vehicles. And it probably delayed us a little bit with the Model 3 as well.
I have made the mistaken assumption - and I will attempt to be better at this - of thinking that because somebody is on Twitter and is attacking me that it is open season. And that is my mistake.
If you're entering anything where there's an existing marketplace, against large, entrenched competitors, then your product or service needs to be much better than theirs. It can't be a little bit better, because then you put yourself in the shoes of the consumer... you're always going to buy the trusted brand unless there's a big difference.
When I was a child, there's one thing I said: 'I never want to be alone.' That's what I would say. I don't want to be alone.
If I'm not in love, if I'm not with a long-term companion, I cannot be happy.
Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence.
So we originally expected to make about 35 gigawatt hours at the cell level and about 50 gigawatt hours at the module or pack level. Now we are expecting to do about 150 gigawatt hours in the same volumetric space as the original design.
A utility can handle up to 20% of production from solar and that helps the grid because it produces electricity when needed. Solar power peaks in the middle of the day and that's also when air conditioning is running and businesses are operating, so power production matches usage.
There's a silly notion that failure's not an option at NASA. Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.
SpaceX is only 12 years old now. Between now and 2040, the company's lifespan will have tripled. If we have linear improvement in technology, as opposed to logarithmic, then we should have a significant base on Mars, perhaps with thousands or tens of thousands of people.
If you look at space companies, they've failed either because they've had a technical solution where success was not a possible outcome, they were unable to attract a critical mass of talent, or they just ran out of money. The finish line is usually a lot further away than you think.
I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens.
Here in the West, people often don't like listening to their leaders, even if they are right.
