Elon Musk pitched sustainable vitality, mind implants, and area exploration in an article revealed in a Chinese language journal run by the nation’s web watchdog and censorship company, in accordance with a translation from Yang Liu, a reporter for the Chinese language state press company, Xinhua. (via WSJ reporter Karen Hao).
Shaped in 2013, the Our on-line world Administration of China (CAC) is in control of creating and imposing insurance policies surrounding on-line content material, person information, and digital safety. The CAC later created {a magazine} that, in accordance with China Media Challenge senior researcher, Stella Chen, sometimes consists of regulatory bulletins and analysis on web coverage. The journal was initially known as New Media earlier than it was rebranded as China Our on-line world earlier this yr.
The July subject of China Our on-line world options articles from Musk and Ant Group CEO Eric Jing Xiandong, the corporate that runs the Chinese language fee service Alipay. Liu supplies an English translation of Musk’s article in a submit on his Substack publication, Beijing Channel. Musk says he was invited by the journal to share his “ideas on the imaginative and prescient of expertise and humanity,” after which proceeds to explain and promote the expertise utilized by the businesses he owns — Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink — that he believes can “assist obtain a greater future for humanity:”
To that finish, any space that contributes to a sustainable future is worthy of our funding. Whether or not it’s Tesla, Neuralink, or SpaceX, these corporations have been all based with the final word objective of enhancing the way forward for human life and creating as a lot sensible worth for the world as potential — Tesla to speed up the world’s transition to sustainable vitality, Neuralink for medical rehabilitation, SpaceX for making interstellar connections potential.
He additionally cites a few of his loftier targets as examples of the sort of expertise his corporations might (finally) create, resembling a “self-sustaining metropolis on Mars,” a approach for people to “combine with synthetic intelligence,” and “fastened battery banks.” Musk additionally mentions the yet-to-be-seen humanoid Tesla Bot, and suggests that folks could doubtlessly be capable to purchase a robotic as a present in “lower than a decade.”
In a tweet, Liu calls the article a “sensible transfer” on Musk’s behalf, because it permits him “to grab the chance to showcase the technological prowess of his corporations to Chinese language officers and the general public.”
“I hope extra individuals will be part of us in our battle to speed up the world’s transition to sustainable vitality,” Musk states. “I additionally welcome extra like-minded Chinese language companions to affix us in exploring clear vitality, synthetic intelligence, human-machine collaboration, and area exploration to create a future price ready for.”
Musk’s look in a publication run by the CAC conflicts together with his outspoken advocacy totally free speech, the very idea that impressed his resolution to buy Twitter (which he’s now making an attempt to again out on over an argument about bots). Through the years, the CAC has applied plenty of insurance policies designed to censor and limit speech on-line. The CAC’s Cybersecurity Legislation, for instance, requires social platforms to take down content material that incorporates “prohibited data,” or else face punishment from the CAC.
Final yr, the CAC pushed for the elimination of the Chinese language ride-hailing app Didi from app shops, and demanded that Apple take away a well-liked Quran app from its Chinese language App Retailer. The CAC additionally launched a hotline for customers to report “unlawful” feedback in regards to the Chinese language Communist Occasion, and just lately proposed legal guidelines that will require social platforms to evaluation each remark posted by customers.