America-PAC-Town-Hall — Pittsburgh, PA 20. Oktober 2024 Musks Town-Hall im Großraum Pittsburgh (McKees Rocks), wo Senatskandidat Dave McCormick zu ihm auf die Bühne kam und ein Scheck über eine Million Dollar überreicht wurde; mehr als zwei Millionen Menschen verfolgten es auf X.
Musks Town-Hall im Großraum Pittsburgh (McKees Rocks), wo Senatskandidat Dave McCormick zu ihm auf die Bühne kam und ein Scheck über eine Million Dollar überreicht wurde; mehr als zwei Millionen Menschen verfolgten es auf X.
Transkript Elon Musk
I guess this seat was kind of far away from the stage, So. You're most welcome. So congratulations.
Audience
Thank you so much. Oh, my gosh.
Elon Musk
Is there anything you want to say?
Audience
Well, thank you so much for. I mean, I truly believe everything you're doing, truly. You don't need to be doing it. I know a lot of us feel the same way. Your wealth and responsibility you are using to save speech. And we just all appreciate it. We really do. So thank you so much.
Elon Musk
So, let's see. Good times. I always get fired up with the incredible energy from you and, you know. Yeah, Yeah. I mean, this kind of energy lights a fire in my soul. Honestly, it's just great. It's like, really fantastic. So let's see. Yeah. You know, some of the things I'll say I've said before because it's important to say them a few times just to make sure people get the message and for people out there that maybe are seeing one of these talks for the first time and maybe didn't see the other talks. So forgive me if some of the things I say are repetitive, but some for people out there, a lot of them haven't heard these things at all. Most important is that the registration deadline in Pennsylvania ends at midnight tomorrow. So after that point, people cannot register to vote. So more than anything, it's register, register, register only have until midnight tomorrow. That's. That's. So definitely hound friends, family, acquaintances, people on the street, everyone you meet, to say to. Just. Just to register. We got to register. Wow. 90. Amazing. Congratulation. That's great. I hope I live to 90. So, you know, based on some of the damn hate I'm getting, I might not. Well, it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye or an ear or I guess. So then it's just all fun and games with one eye and one ear. Fine, whatever, you know, but hopefully, hopefully, hopefully I don't get shot. It's. No, but it's like. It's like a real. It's crazy out there, you know? Yeah. Well, anyway, you know, there was like. I was just on the COVID of some big, like. I think it's the biggest magazine in Germany called Der Spiegel. I was just like their Time magazine or something saying that I'm enemy number two, you know? Yeah. And I'm like, enemy number two of what? Democracy. I mean, I'm pro democracy. All I'm literally trying to do is uphold the Constitution and ensure we have a free and fair election. Yeah, I know. You know, I'm Definitely upgrading my security. You know, it's like, so guess I better cancel that open cop parade. Just kidding. Maybe I can do open carb raid. But it's, but it's actually like a dummy version of me and then see what happens. It's just like an inflatable. I don't know, it'd be quite funny. Just troll them. So. No, but I have to admit sometimes I'm a little shook by some of the things that I see, you know, like the level of vitriolic hatred on the left, which is supposed to be tolerant. They claim they're tolerant and yet they're incredibly intolerant and spewing hate. And, you know, whereas on the right, I see, you know, people sort of tend to regard people in the left as, well, misguided, but, you know, don't hate them. They're just mistaken. They're misguided. But the amount of hate coming from the left is like, wow, next level. Yeah, there's some evil stuff out there. So, you know, I think we should embrace a diversity of views and we should have reasonable arguments and we should have debates and they should be. That's the essence of free speech, is that ideas survive, you know, when they're competing ideas in the marketplace of ideas. You know, if somebody says something that's. That's incorrect, then that can be corrected. That's, that's what happens on the X platform. People will say something, then others will add context to it, or they will correct it or there'll be a community note. And this applies equally to the left and right. There's no thumb on the scale like there used to be. And it's, you know, there's no voice on the left that's been silenced, unlike in the past where many voices on the right were silenced. But they just don't seem to like the idea that people on the right can say what they want to say within the bounds of the law, which is startling. I mean, the reason for this petition in support of the Constitution is because the Constitution really is under attack. One prominent Democrat after another has been saying that freedom of speech, the First Amendment, is a bad thing. Yeah. John Kerry literally said that. Tim Walls. And Tim Walls. Yeah, and Hillary. Yeah, exactly. It's like a long list. They're not like, you know, mid level people in the. It's like the top people in the Democrat Party are saying the First Amendment's an obstacle and then they will refer to it, you know, like they use the word disinformation. Like it's a pretty Good indication that if someone's using the word disinformation a lot, they are the ones creating the disinformation. And you know, who. If you're trying to figure out who are the good guys, who are the bad guys, the people who are trying to suppress freedom of speech, they are the bad guys. You know, so it's actually astonishing that we're even in this position in 2024 in America. It's hard to even believe that this is real. You know, and some of the crazy stuff that I see happening, like, California passing a law making it illegal to require voter ID in any election in the state, like, not even, like, for, like, a city council. And a friend of mine went to vote in Palo Alto in California, because he was like, is this real or not? And he, like, tried to show his id, and it was like presenting a cross to a vampire. Like, they're like, no, no, put the ID away. You know, like, they literally. They weren't allowed to look at his id, even if he wanted to show it to them. That is the extent of the madness. This is a real thing in California right now. And if. If the dams went nationally, they'll do it nationwide. Obviously, that's what's going to happen, and there will be no democracy. That's. That's why I think this is the most important election of our lifetime. President Trump is the only one who can save democracy. So. Yeah. Yeah. Fight, fight, fight. Fight. Fight. Fight, Fight, fight, Fight, Fight, fight, fight, fight. I mean. Yeah, I'm still blown away that this is. This. That a bunch of this stuff is even real. You know, like, and every week that goes by, something crazier happens. So. But. Yeah, exactly. They have ruined San Francisco. Yeah. And the uk.
Elon Musk
Right. There's, like, this movement to suppress freedom of speech.
Elon Musk
Throughout the world. Yep. I mean, and the thing is that if. Obviously, indeed, Mars 2028, you know, occupy Mars.
Elon Musk
So, yeah, exactly. We want to do exciting, inspiring things that make you look forward to the future, you know, like, sending people back to the moon, sending people to Mars, exploring the solar system. You know, if you think of, like, if you ask probably anyone in the world, what was the most inspiring thing that humanity's ever done? I bet a lot of people would say we went to the Moon, you know, and. Yeah, well, but the fact that. The fact that, you know, us humans, you know, with all our issues and challenges, were able to go to the moon, and even though it was only a handful of people that went to the moon, in a sense, we all went there. We went there sort of with them. We had that experience. Well, I was admittedly one years old, but I saw the videos and it was incredibly inspiring that that is something that humans could do. But we want to do more than that in the future. We don't want that to be the best we ever did. We don't want that to be a high watermark. We want to go beyond and we want to have, like I said, like a permanent moon base Alpha and a city on Mars. And you know, I think, I mean, basically the entire solar system would be sick. You know, we want sci fi to be real, not just fiction forever. You just generally want to think about the future and say that, well, there's going to be exciting, inspiring things that are going to happen that are better than the past and that's what makes you look forward to the future. So, you know, just, you know, to sort of reiterate some of the key principles of what, you know, a Trump. I mean, obviously, I think you guys know, but for people out there who may be listening and especially for independent sort of swing voters who are maybe deciding which way to go, you know, I think with the, with the Trump presidency, we're going to get secure borders, we're going to get safe cities, we're going to get sensible spending, we're going to get deregulation, so we only have sensible regulation and we can unlock the power of the giant that is America. And. We're going to uphold the Constitution, we're going to strengthen freedom of speech, right to bear arms and the freedoms that people treasure and reduce the burden that the federal government places upon the states and the people within the states. Go, go, go. So, so yeah, the Department of Government Efficiency is going to be great. You know, what that's going to do is really just take a look at all the federal expenditures and say if something is not, if you're not getting great value for money for your hard earned tax dollars, cancel it. So, yeah, And I regard this as, I would like to say it's a hard job, but actually it's not because there's so much waste. So I actually think this is a, this is a fairly easy job. Although we'll get a lot of opposition naturally from the entrenched interests that get the money and do nothing, you know, nothing good with it. They'll be grumpy about it, but the American people will be very happy that their tax dollars are being spent in a much more sensible way. And I think we also want to have extreme transparency. You know, so like no shady backroom deals or whatever, everything done in open, total exposure. Like, you can see the mistakes that are made, the good things that are done. You can comment on it, you can, you know, raise concerns. This is, we want a transparent, open government. And you know, because there will be mistakes that are made, but you want to, if there's, if there's, with, with transparency comes trust, you know, and then you can see, okay, we made a mistake, we'll fix that, we'll do that, you know, and, and then, and then you,
Elon Musk
and that's the best way to restore trust in government. Not that you should trust government, you shouldn't trust government, but it'll be, you can trust it slightly more if there's at least transparency. So those are all the things that I think we get with Trump, on the other hand, you know, with a sort of, sort of the demoshine, you know, there's like almost no point in attacking Common personally because she's just, she's just a puppet of the machine. But if the machine takes over, it has another four years. We'll obviously see wide open borders. We'll see our cities get less safe. We'll see extreme spending and inflation. We'll see the freedom of speech get taken away or severely undermined. We'll see the second Amendment right to bear arms severely undermined. They've said they're going to do this. This is not like a secret agenda. This is what they say in public. So, you know, just believe them when they say it. And I think,
Elon Musk
yeah, so, and I think there's other, another significant danger which I think we should consider is that, I mean, there's a massive increase in the number of illegals that are being put in swing states. If you look at the actual numbers on, look, look at the government data. So this is government data reported from a Democratic administration. And you see triple digit increases over the past three years in the number of illegals in swing states. Now the goal will then be to, over the next four years to legalize all of those legals. And when you have elections that are sometimes decided by 10 or 20,000 votes and then you sort of put 200,000 legals and legalize them in that same swing state. Now you've got a 200,000 vote advantage and every swing state will be blue and America will be a one party state forever, just like California. And that would be a nightmare. Democracy gone. That's what I think will happen with the Kamala presidency. Mark my words. And this is why people wonder why am I politically active? Because I'm actually. I'm a technologist. I build rockets and cars and stuff. So what am I doing in politics? It's not. I don't want to be in politics. I want to be clear. That is not my preference. I just like building stuff. I like building products that people love, and I derive joy from seeing people enjoy the products that my companies make. So. I like making products people love, and that's what I normally like doing. And I actually don't like politics at all. I hate politics. But the stakes are so high here that I have had no choice but to take a stand. So it's not something I want to do.
Elon Musk
Yeah, Thank you. Sweet.
Elon Musk
Anyway, so dramatically increasing my risk of being assassinated and, you know, and engaging in politics are not what I want to do. I do not have a death wish. But the stakes are so high that I really have. I feel I have no choice but to do it. And that's the reason. And thank you all for your strong support and everything you're doing to ensure that we have a democracy and that the right side wins. Thank you guys for everything you're doing, and thank you out there. So, yeah, I mean, to everyone out there, you know, because I think there's. There's. There's millions of people that will watch this. This town hall and this, you know, this talk and the questions that will. Q and A that we'll do. Please, please, if you're in Pennsylvania, sorry for it to be repetitive, but you. You've got less than 36 hours to register. Please make sure you register. Make sure everyone you know is registered to vote. Please make sure everyone, you know, has. Has voted, that they. If they received an absentee ballot, that they. That they. They actually vote. And. And I really, actually advise people to vote early, so vote immediately. And you can go in. And it's kind of an odd nomenclature because it says absentee ballot, but you can actually take your absentee ballot and hand it in in person. So then you're like, okay, then, you know, it. You know, you know, it got there. You're literally handing it to the person. You can, you know, probably take a picture of it or something. But it's. That. That's incredibly important. And, you know, I think, like, a lot of the challenge we face is. Is, I guess, one of. Perhaps, maybe not among. Obviously this audience, but. But some people, we have an issue of apathy where they. Maybe they. They think the vote doesn't count or they don't think it's serious enough. And so for whatever reason, they have not registered to vote and they have not voted. So it's just really important to go out there and explain the importance of this election and how democracy is on the line. And this I think is, this might be the very last election that's a real election. It's the most important election in your lifetime. And if there's any election where you have a vote, it should be this one. So yeah, so let's maybe we can go to Q and A. So we can start Q and A if anybody would like. Oh, you have to line up proportionally. Okay,
Elon Musk
Yeah. Second, of course the Second Amendment. That's what our petition is about. Because the reason, like if we lose the Second Amendment, there won't be a First Amendment. The Second Amendment is there to make sure the First Amendment stays strong. Sir. Elon, my question is for both you and for Dave McCormick, your guest here tonight. Both of you have experienced incredible success in business and you're both self made men, truly the embodiment of the American dream. I want to know what Dave can do and what you can do in taking that same opportunity to Washington so that others can experience it as well. Yeah, well, I think the things that we've talked about will have a big effect. You know, the sheer amount of what I call the strangulation of America by overregulation that is inhibiting progress like preventing new houses from being built, preventing bridges from being built, preventing even trivial things like the boring company for example, is just trying to dig a simple tunnel under a river. Has been waiting two years for a permit, can't get it done. So it's just sitting somewhere. I think when Reagan did deregulation in the 80s, there was unleashed a wave of prosperity. I think that's a super big deal. The other thing that's very important that I haven't touched upon is that we need to make sure that America that you get ahead purely as a function of your talent and hard work, nothing else, You know, like racism, sexism in any form is bad. Doesn't matter who it's directed towards. And we want to have the land of opportunity. Just it means that you're as good as how hard you work and how talented you are and what contribution you make. And that should be the only, that should be the only thing that matters about getting ahead.
Audience
I just want to know if you are considering running in 2028.
Elon Musk
Well, there'd have to be a constitutional amendment for that. So I, my grandfather was American actually, but I was born, oddly enough, in Africa, which is a strange spawn point. But you know, it's like, so I cannot be president, but as long as I actually don't want to be president. So to be clear, I want to build rockets and cars and you know, so. I'm super literal. In fact, you can look at, you know, talks that I gave like 20 years ago and I say the same thing, you know, so it's like, it's not like, you know, just, you know, I believe we want to be a space frying civilization and out there among the stars and we need to, you know, have great rocket technology for that. You know, I believe in electric, electric cars and automation and you know, self driving and robotics and the space based Internet. So I just love creating technologies that people find useful and that's what I want to do with my time. So I'm hoping that we get President Trump elected and then I'll work hard on the Department of Government efficiency and then, you know, after that I hope I can not be in politics. That would be my hope. So I, So, you know, like I said, you know, I'm doing this because I think it's critical to the future of the country and if America falls, nothing else matters. You know, we're not getting to Mars or anything. So, you know, and I've talked to a lot of people, like leaders in business and technology, because I was like, guys, you should really, you know, you need to go out, go out there and fight hard because, you know, if America falls, your company's going to fall with it. So why aren't, you know, I wish more leaders in business and technology would, would put themselves out there. Like they, they usually agree with me and they support Trump, but they're, they're afraid of saying so. And I'm like, man, the stakes are super high. You know, fortunately, more and more people are sort of, you know, coming out of the closet, you know, type of thing. Like, so, like saying this for Trump, it's like, you know, it's like maybe it's probably the most rebellious thing you could do in San Francisco, but it's like, you know, by a long shot. So, you know, that's. Anyway, I'm not a natural politician, nor do I wish to be. I just want to make cool technology that you'll love to use. Sam, just to. Eli, just to respond to Sam's question,
Audience
what the Democratic Party is running on now is not only anti business, it's anti success.
Elon Musk
And anti business is these huge regulations that are stifling businesses.
Audience
Whether it's dairy Farms or Space SpaceX and everything.
Elon Musk
I mean, fracking.
Audience
I mean, you don't have to ban fracking to ban fracking. You just have red tape and bureaucracy
Elon Musk
and all sorts of stipulations that make
Audience
it impossible to succeed. And on the personal success side, we need to give every single kid the opportunity with great schools to be everything they can be. Our school system needs to be totally
Elon Musk
renovated to give everybody an opportunity. Not everybody. Not everybody needs to go to college.
Audience
They just have to have the skills
Elon Musk
to have a great career in the American dream. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah. Let's see. Next question.
Audience
Hi, Elon. Like Donald Trump and like yourself, I think I am the survivor of an assassination attempt.
Elon Musk
Well, nobody's gotten close enough to shoot a bullet yet.
Audience
Okay, well, like Donald Trump, then.
Elon Musk
There's a couple people that have tried to get close, but they were arrested before they got close.
Elon Musk
Yeah, that's good.
Audience
But in my case, my parents hired a hitman, otherwise known as an abortionist doctor.
Audience
To try to kill me when I was in the womb.
Audience
But he was terrible at his job, and I survived. And I'm here. Thank you.
Elon Musk
Well, I'm glad you're here.
Audience
Thank you. But so, needless to say, I'm very pro life.
Audience
But even without that, I would be pro life. Not even based on religious reasons, but just the moral and rational, logical reasons. And I know that you're a rational person and you are pro humanity.
Elon Musk
Yes, I love humanity. I do.
Audience
I'm just wondering if you would ever consider publicly supporting the pro life movement.
Elon Musk
Yeah. I mean, so obviously this is a contentious topic, if there ever was one. It is perhaps, perhaps the most contentious topic. And to be clear out there, President Trump has been clear that he will veto a national abortion ban. So he has said that because the Democrats have said that he will apply a national abortion ban, and that is causing a lot of sort of independent voters to actually not vote for Trump because they think that he will implement a national abortion ban. He has made very clear that he thinks it's a state. It's a state rights issue, and he will veto a national abortion ban. So now, you know, there is no answer to this question that will not offend some number of people. But nonetheless, I will tell you what my opinion is, which will certainly offend some number of people. My opinion is that if a baby can survive outside the womb, it cannot be avoided. It cannot. So if a baby can survive outside the womb, if it is far enough in gestation to survive outside the womb. At that point, it is not abortion, it is murder. So obviously. Now, part of the challenge here is that the education system has terrified girls and women and relentlessly push the idea that getting pregnant is the end of your life. Like your career is dead, you're ostracized from society. And so when you instill terror in young girls that getting pregnant is the worst thing that could happen. They obviously believe that if they're just kids, and so when that is a deep seated belief that they've been hit within the educational system for a long time, then the idea that they won't be able to get an abortion even in extreme circumstances is obviously a terrifying situation. And they will not vote for any candidate who might, essentially, who would stop them from getting an abortion even in extreme circumstances. So this is the issue that we face. It's this relentless push in education, terrifying girls and women that if they get pregnant, their life's over. So, and the reality is there's nothing greater than having a kid. And so, You know, I get more joy in my life for my kids than anything else. And that's generally true of all humans. In fact, that is how we evolved. It is a very natural thing that you will love your children. So, in fact, having a child will make you happier than anything else in your life ever.
Audience
So you get a chance to ask one of the most intelligent men in the world a question.
Elon Musk
What do you ask?
Audience
What are your thoughts on clean energy as far as
Elon Musk
nuclear energy? Nuclear power sure seems to be the
Audience
cleanest or one of the cleanest that we have. And there's talk about developing miniature reactors. Do you think that's where we should
Elon Musk
focus our, our tax dollars on for the future? Well, I am very much pro nuclear. If you actually look at the data and especially if you look at, say, modern nuclear reactors, the modern designs are so safe that if you try to get a meltdown, you couldn't do it. Like, if you went there with flamethrowers and explosives and your goal was to get this thing to melt down, it still won't melt down. That's how good modern nuclear reactors are. So they're not dangerous and they're a great source of energy. And I think we should do a lot more nuclear power. I think it's a smart move. You know, in Japan, when they had the tsunami and that the Fukushima reactor was taken out, I had people in California asking me if they should be worried about the radiation coming from Japan. I'm like, definitely not. That's insane. And so actually to support the people of Japan, you know, because people were scared to even travel to Japan. I went, didn't go just go to Japan. I went to Fukushima itself. And eight locally grown vegetables on TV and. Amazing. I'm still alive. Wow. Can you believe it? No. We don't need to send the nuclear waste to a different planet. The nuclear waste is very tiny and you can store as much of it as you want on site at, at the nuclear reactor. You don't even need to move it. You'll tell me when? Not yet. So anyway, I just like, we should be less scared of nuclear stuff. And it doesn't take long to just. I mean, if you just read like the, you know, even Wikipedia level stuff, it's going to make it clear that it's not a scary, it's not a scary thing. Now to sort of maybe sort of wax scientific philosophy, you know, philosophically, scientifically. The real massive energy source in our solar system overwhelmingly is the sun. So the sun converts roughly 4 1/2 million tons of mass to energy every second. And it's very reliable and requires no maintenance and no servicing. It's pretty great. No service for all that energy. So long term, by far, by far, far, far, the most amount of energy we'll get is from the sun. Solar energy exceeds all other energy by a factor of a trillion. Like literally. Not an exaggeration. So yeah, Yeah, solar flares can take out the grid because the grid's like a giant, like radio, like a radio antenna. So solar flares can't take out the grid. Yeah, I don't know if we have a plan. I suspect we do not have a plan. So, you know, Tesla megapacks can, can help buffer the grid and add resilience to the grid. So. And they've done that in many parts of the world, including in the U.S. so let's see. So, yeah. Well, first, thank you for everything, Elon. You're just been incredible for the last 20 years. My question is about the election is, are you concerned about the rise of AI, especially foreign governments? AIs on our election system. Yeah, I think we should just in general be wary of AI, domestically or internationally. So, yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, I think like most likely it's. I think it's 80% likely that AI makes the future great and 20% that makes the future really bad. So we want to maximize the probability of it being good. And I think we should be on the lookout for any manipulation domestically or internationally through the use of AI. It's going to happen. Hi, Elon. 23 year old native Pittsburgh here, Very appreciative of the love you've shown us during this extremely important time in the election. Thank you so much. My question today, Elon, is, I know you're familiar with Pittsburgh because of the work we've done over at CMU in the machine learning, machine discovery field. Yeah. And my question today is Project Mellon is an awesome university. Actually, one of my sons is headed to CMU next year. Great, great. My question today, Elon, is in regards to the rumored government efficiency role that you and Trump have spoke about. How can you use this role to work AI in the right direction for all people, not just people like myself who work in the field, but for everyone? I think for young voters like myself, it's something that concerns us as we look forward. So how, as you get more entrenched in public policy, can you help us there?
Elon Musk
I'll answer that, but I would actually like to hear. What do you think I should do? My, my, I'd like to hear like, I, you know, I'm basically, I'm looking for feedback here is what I'm saying.
Elon Musk
I, oh, congratulations. Awesome. Yeah, great, great. My thoughts are that it's probably the best, best robotics college in the world. So it's a shaky road forward. And I, I agree with you. I, I think 20% could be bad and 20% could be phenomenal. And I think for Pittsburgh, I speak for Pittsburgh here. It is a city that is moving away from steel and into technology. And with people like yourself, if we
Audience
can improve that sector here, I think
Elon Musk
we can improve life here for everyone. And if we can improve life in Pittsburgh, we can use AI and those technologies to improve life for people everywhere. And I think it's through a lack of regulation as opposed to what they're doing in the EU right now, attacking people. And I just was curious on your thoughts. Yeah, well, I think we are going to see a massive proliferate, massive increase in the number of robots. And you know, recently Tesla unveiled the latest Optimus robot. And I think that's, that's going to be really cool. I mean, we want to give everyone their own, their own personal C3PO, R2D2, you know, and like, who wouldn't want that? That'd be awesome, you know, even better than that. So I think that's really gonna be. Yeah, well, yeah, privacy concerns are significant anyway. But one thing I want to be clear is like, is that I am looking for feedback. So it's not like I'm just going open loop here and doing whatever I want to do. I'm like, I kind of want to know what do the people want and, you know, and what should we do? And then do it, you know, so it's as opposed to me just deciding on my own, like, you know, so, yeah.
Audience
Elon, you're clearly a great American pioneer, and we all in Pittsburgh want to welcome you and thank you for coming. Thank you for taking my question.
Elon Musk
Well, it's an honor to be here.
Audience
This is really the cradle of pioneers in the history of America. People here from George Washington as a surveyor to Lewis and Clark who pushed their Pittsburgh made boat into the Ohio and explored the west to so many industries being born. Radio, the movies. The first refinery for oil. The Pittsburgh coal seems the biggest in the world. The nuclear energy. You mentioned Westinghouse and Tesla creating alternating current out at Rockwell Park. The philanthropic industry. Pittsburgh out produced Germany and Japan in steel together during World War II. A group of us are starting a movement here. We're calling it Pittsburgh Tomorrow, in which we're trying to rekindle that pioneering spirit. Clearly, your son is all. You mentioned you might want to invest. We believe that not only can we turn around the malaise in America and help make Pittsburgh resurgent, but also by making this a place where people can conceive of a new reality and make it happen, that that can provide the same kind of example that you're striving for. So I just want to thank you for being here, and we want to welcome and invite you to invest in our city as we make it the best place to live in the world.
Elon Musk
I mean. I mean, given that my son will be attending college here next year, I'm going to be in Pittsburgh a lot, so,
Elon Musk
Going to be waving this towel quite a lot. Good exercise. Loosens you up.
Audience
Hi. I'm here tonight as a sex trafficking survivor, and I am here to ask you personally, Elon, if you will work with sex trafficking survivors and sex workers about our First Amendment rights and how both sex X and U can help both vulnerable communities who already have laws against our First Amendment rights that are on the books.
Elon Musk
Okay. I mean, I'm generally in favor of any policy that maximizes the happiness of the people. So what would you recommend?
Audience
First of all, I'd recommend repealing Fosta Sesta, which was signed on April 11th of 2018 and supported by both parties. What this actually does is it silences certain vulnerable communities, both sex trafficking survivors as well as sex workers from anywhere in the Internet. They shut our websites down. Within weeks, people started to die.
Elon Musk
Both sounds crazy.
Audience
Suicide as well as homicide. Violence is up at an all time high and we are currently being silenced by our government with laws such as Fosta sesto, which violates our first amendment rights. And as a child sex trafficking survivor and a full service sex worker of over 25 years, I can tell you that the resources in Pennsylvania for sex trafficking survivors are going to police to arrest full service sex workers instead of protecting anybody. I was abused at age 9, 10 right here in western Pennsylvania.
Elon Musk
Oh, sorry to hear that.
Audience
Thank you. And over 30 years later, there are still zero sex trafficking survivor resources and police continue to arrest full service sex workers and say that they're helping the children, but they're not helping any children. So would you be open to a conversation to work with sex trafficking survivors and sex workers to make X a platform where we are safe and don't get silenced by our government?
Elon Musk
Well, as I've said very clearly, I'm in favor of anything that supports freedom of speech. So any infringement on freedom of speech I would be against. And people should be able to speak their mind. That's the whole idea of the first amendment. And I mean, the priority for law enforcement should be protecting children first and foremost, because they can protect themselves. So protect the kids first, everything else second.
Audience
Hi Elon. Thanks so much for being here. As you know, you're an inspiration to us all, but mostly you're really an inspiration to the young children of America who want to be able to dream big and who want to be able to do things. But the federal government with the Department of Education puts a firewall behind that. They don't allow our kids to dream big. They don't allow them to have free thoughts. They're censored in the classroom. They can't talk about the open discourse that you encourage on X. So you're doing that on X. But what can we. I'm a mom of three kids. How can we make this happen in school so that the kids can dream big and achieve what you're dreaming?
Elon Musk
I do think we need significant reform in education. I mean, the Department of Education seems to regard as its primary duty foisting propaganda on our children as opposed to getting them a good education. That's insane. You know, it's. I mean, we should be just the priority should be teach kids skills that they will find useful later in life and leave any sort of social propaganda out of the classroom.
Audience
Okay, I got a foreign policy type question for You. So in Israel, they have free health care, they have free college.
Elon Musk
We don't have it in this country yet.
Audience
Every year we send them $3.8 billion.
Elon Musk
Last year, in addition to the 3.8
Audience
billion, we sent them another $14.3 billion. So why should we, as taxpayers keep funding that lifestyle in Israel? And second question, real quick. We also have our politicians bought and paid for by aipac. Because AIPAC sends back the money, we send them into the tune of $100 million. How can you fix that for us?
Elon Musk
Well, I think we need to look, take a look at all federal expenditures and say, you know, all federal expenditures and say, is this really benefiting the American people or is it not? And if it is, well, are we spending it wisely? Usually the answer is no. So then we should spend less money and spend it efficiently. But there's got to be a clear benefit to the American people or we shouldn't be spending money. Eli, I just want to say I'm a huge fan. I wasn't an X user after you bought it. I became an X user. Thank you. Please encourage everyone, you know, to, you know, premium. I'm a premium X user. Thank you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd just like to thank everyone who's. Who's a sort of a paid subscriber on X. This. It's really important because it, you know, otherwise we're totally beholden to the advertisers. And, you know, so when you subscribe, you're helping. You're helping with freedom of speech. So thank you for subscribing. Yeah. And as I became an X user, I did bought Tesla, which I love. And just recently, I ordered Starlink because of what you did for all the hurricane victims, right,
Elon Musk
My son and I are huge fans. So my son is in the line over there.
Elon Musk
Literally every single word you speak, he takes to heart. He got married at age 17. Wow. And he has two children. And his goal is to have more children than you. Elon, that is a great goal. Honestly, like. Like the. The birth rate issue is a massive problem. Problem. Yeah. So I'm, I'm. I mean, that is great. Like, we need people. Yeah. It's like, if you don't make new humans, there's no humanity. It's like, they don't come from nowhere. Yeah. You got to make them. And it takes. It's really hard to make kids. It takes a long time for them to grow up. And there's a lot of diapers involved. But. But kids are the most wonderful thing that you'll ever have in your life. And you know, it's, I would say start early. So I'm glad to hear your son's doing that. So we will keep supporting Elon. The quote that comes to me thinking of you is the only thing necessary for triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing right. And what you've done the last two years is stood up and spoke. And now evil is getting tamped down. And we appreciate your courageous leadership. Thank you, sir.
Audience
Thank you, Elon. So much of campaign messaging is about fixing current problems where I think future aspirations for the country often don't get discussed as much.
Elon Musk
You obviously have some pretty large goals for your companies. So with years of good leadership and
Audience
common sense policies implemented under a Trump presidency, describe your utopia, America, and describe the long term achievements that you believe can be possible. Thank you. Sure.
Elon Musk
Well, first of all, I should say that I think America is great. And I think we want to make sure that the fundamental elements that have made America great remain in place. And those fundamental elements are freedom and opportunity. So maximizing individual freedom, minimizing government interference, and making sure that you get ahead as a function of your hard work and talent. And that's the only thing. If we have those fundamental things and the Constitution stands strong, America will get greater and greater. So that's really important. But to your point, we have to have a combination. We have to do both things. We have to solve the problems that we face, but we must also have exciting, inspiring goals. Because life can't just be about solving one miserable problem after another. I mean, that's like, it's hard to get fired up about, okay, we've got another problem to solve. There's got to be things that you're excited about in the future that move your heart. You know, you're like, wow, I can't wait to see that happen. You know, so that's the kind of thing where, like, you know, where we want optimism about the future, optimism that is grounded on realism. And so, you know, I think, you know, grand projects, you know, revolutionizing the transport, you know, I mean, obviously I've got, I've got some ideas and probably other people have ideas too. You know, I think it's possible, although I'm not, not really involved in medicine outside of neuralink, I think it's possible for us to have a revolution in medicine. You know, like, there are actually a huge number of drugs that are stuck in approval at the FDA that can help people, and they're just stuck in bureaucratic Molasses. And a good friend of mine was telling me a story that fortunately had a happy ending, where his mom was diagnosed with brain cancer. And the oncologist said, you know, there's, there's, there's no chance. It's, you know, it's got maybe four or five months live. But my friend is, is a very smart, determined person. And he, he looked, he searched, you know, for, you know, what are. He talked to, he talked to every smart people, smart person he knew. And, and, and he found someone who said, yeah, actually there's, there's a drug that's, that's in trials that you take this pill and it actually makes the brain cancer go away. Literally, you just take a pill. He's like, what? And I think it's called like WellyRig or something, FYI, this drug called Wellyrig that solves brain cancer. Maybe more people should know about this. And I think it's in trials at Harvard or something. And it cured his mom. And, you know, so that just happened. I think it was like this year. But if we could just be faster about getting, you know, amazing drugs through the system, a lot more people would be alive, you know, and, you know, that's the kind of thing when I say like, you know, like regulation kills, overregulation kills people. We've got helpful drugs, stuff stuck in approvals and could be helping people, but they're not. That's crazy. You know, so simply expediting drug approval and the fda, I think will save millions of lives. So. From Shawler, Pennsylvania, the home of Pyro
Audience
Pyrex is synonymous to quality. Corning Glass created Pyrex. Pyrex is in almost every kitchen in
Elon Musk
the world because the people love it, the product they love. And you know, along with pirates, Corning created Gorilla Glass.
Audience
That's in almost every phone in this facility today.
Audience
They built that on quality and excellence over centuries.
Audience
You have created multiple companies on quality and excellence in just the last few decades.
Elon Musk
You know, the key to that is you have it. And what is that?
Audience
Can we bring that key to Washington?
Elon Musk
And one follow up is our competition bought Pyrex and they want to rip away the quality.
Elon Musk
when the FTC proves antitrust, will
Audience
you be our white knight?
Elon Musk
Well, I mean, to the degree that I'm influential in government, I will do my best to ensure that actions are taken that maximize the benefit to the American people. So I think probably yes. So. And look, I don't know at the end of the day how much influence I'll have, but I'll do my best to be as helpful as possible.
Audience
Hi Elon, I just want to say thank you like everybody else has too, with your amazement, involvement and contributions in technology. Do you have any projects or interest in developing kidneys for people like myself who suffer from hereditary diseases in kidney failure to help us get off of dialysis and move into a normal life?
Elon Musk
Well, I do not have any kidney programs myself, but there might be some companies out there that do. And you know, just to get back to the regulation thing, it's, you know, if we can have sensible regulation and fast track approvals of new technologies, then I think things like new kidneys and many other ailments can be available to the American public much faster and at a much lower cost. Because actually a lot of people don't realize a lot of the cost of developing these new medications and new cures, new devices is the massive regulatory burden that is placed upon companies. So you know, I think we ought to expedite approvals, you know, for new drugs, new devices and new medical technology things. And then as long as companies very clearly describe the benefits and the risks, it should be up to the individual as to whether they want to use it.
Elon Musk
And it's to tag on the, the question about DOGE and the healthcare expenditure because I'm a heart surgeon, I'm in the practice for 25 years, so I seen so many inefficiencies. Yes, absolutely. When I talk to doctors, they tell me it's, it's everyone there was like they're mired in bureaucracy and administrative stuff and then they get, get sued, you know, like sued to bankruptcy sometimes and it's just crazy. That's right. $4.8 trillion we spend and still very inefficient and highly costly. So my question to you is Pittsburgh. We have a very well reputed three healthcare systems, upmc, Allegheny and WVU Systems to provide the domain knowledge and we have a Carnegie Mellon for engineering talent. So we needed a third guy like you who can do the impossible things like bringing the astronaut from the International Space Station down or catching a 250 ton rocket with two chopsticks. Or build a hundred thousand server farm in 19 days which normally takes four years. So I think we need a guy like you impossible to create a healthcare AI and Pittsburgh will be a great place to do it. So can you to do healthcare AI here. I think AI is going to be incredible for medicine actually as it is for Grok right now you can actually upload a PET scan and ask Grok to analyze the PET scan for you and then you can compare that to what a doctor tells you and see what the difference is. You can literally upload your image to Grok and it will analyze your mri, your PET scan, whatever the case may be, and tell you what it thinks the probable issue is. And that's with Grok 2 and Grok 3 will be out in a few months and it'll be 10 times better. So I think it'd be really helpful to medical professionals and to individuals. So I think there's a lot of amazing potential. I think there's the potential for us to have an amazing, exciting future, but we just have to work hard to make that happen and you know, to circle back. I think essential to making that happen is electing President Trump. Indeed. Let's do that again. So, yeah, I mean, you know, it's like, it's like my friggin back still hurts. It's like, you know, it's like, you know, here's 2024 and I still have back pain. I'm sure a lot of people in the audience have back pain. You know, it's just solving back pain I think would be a massive increase in people's happiness. Y. So.
Audience
Well, God bless you, Elon. God bless you for what you are doing for our country. I And you have articulated. Yes. How. How you love children and children cannot protect themselves, of course. So we must protect them.
Audience
Well, there are a couple of documentaries, truth, that are out there about what's happened to over 300,000 children who have crossed the borders, the open borders, and they have been sex trafficked and nobody. And that's probably a very low number. And it's happening in every state in this country and especially, especially like you said, the swing states. I know that it's happening in communities near me. So these documentaries cost a lot to make. So there is a charge to watch them. $10 minimal, but still extensive for some. Is there anything that you can do to make these documentaries more widespread and available?
Elon Musk
Well, that's a good point. Well, I guess I do have a foundation and maybe the foundation could pay to have them, you know, available for free or something like that.
Audience
They're a line in the sand. And what is treason? Just two of them. If you could look into that, that would be amazing for those children and their families.
Elon Musk
All right, I'll look into it.
Audience
Thank you. Hi. I love my Tesla.
Audience
And I admire your ability to define what your vision is and to work backwards and engineer solutions to successfully achieve solutions to those. And thank you for applying those to our Constitution and to help restore our representative republic.
Elon Musk
You're most welcome.
Audience
My, my concern is the puppet masters that indeed behind the scenes and they, I call them global cabal dictatorship because they have, they're connected and they have no intention of giving up that power. They, they dogged Trump in his first term, and I anticipate them doing the same in the next when he's elected. How can you help Trump remove their power and damper their influence this time around?
Elon Musk
Well, yeah. Now, I do want to be clear that, like, in my opinion, we should not do the bad things that they are doing. You know, so, you know, the, if you look at what the machine is, has done, they've tried to imprison President Trump, they've engaged in unbelievable lawfare just to stop people from voting, which is obviously anti Democratic. But I think the right thing to do is not to do what they've done, but rather to reinforce the strength of the legal system and for there to be some kind of punishment for engaging in lawfare. So, you know, it's. One should not respond to corruption of the system with corruption, but with removal of corruption. That's the right thing. Hello, Elon. My name is Harrison Burkhart. I've lived in here for about a year and a half in Pittsburgh. First of all, I just want to say thank you. You've been a. I've looked up to you since I was 8 years old, and I'm 19 now, so that's obviously a significant amount of time.
Elon Musk
And I don't know, with everything you've done, you were against lockdowns, you've endorsed Donald Trump, you're trying to protect the American Constitution. You've proven to me that I chose the right childhood hero. And I just want to say thank you for that. Well, just kind of you to say thank you, sir. Thank you. So my question for you, you've talked a lot about how you want to minimize government intervention and all that, and I was just wondering specific things. I know, for example, John F. Kennedy wanted to blow the CIA up into a million pieces. Yeah. Maybe he should have not said that. Is there anything specific that you want to spoil it? You don't want to, you know, definitely don't do open cop raise after saying something like that. So, no, I think we obviously want to not have corruption government, and in general, we want to have smaller government because the larger government gets the less individual freedom you have. And I think, you know, that's really the like, as I said, the core things people have said for many years from the founding of the country was that freedom and opportunity and we want to. And your freedoms have just been eroded year after year with more and more government laws and regulations and regulatory authorities. When I looked it up, there's apparently there's like 428 federal agencies. That's like almost two. Yes, indeed, unconstitutional. So what the hell do you need 428 agencies for? Like, why do you even need 100? This is crazy. So, you know, they're currently making new agencies at a rate of 2 per year. This is. And every one of them is chipping away at your freedom. So it's essential for us to unwind that process and restore your personal freedom. And with that will come great prosperity and personal happiness, I believe. Yeah, go ahead, sure. Well, I'm being told I can't ask you another one. Go ahead.
Elon Musk
you talk about minimizing government. Would you want to make tax cuts too? For example, the American Revolution was started over a 2% tax on imports. How low would you want to go as far as cutting taxes? Yeah, it's pretty wild that a tiny tax on tea started the revolution and now we get the living daylight stacks out of us and nobody seems to. There's no revolution. I mean, you get taxed on what you earn, you get taxed on what you buy, and you get taxed on what you own. And it's like, okay, this is, you know, taxes, taxes, taxes. And, you know, and then what does it get spent on? A bunch of the stuff it gets spent on you don't even agree with. So, you know, that's why we need to reduce the size of government and just spend less money and, you know, let the people keep a lot more of their hard earned money. You know, it's. Yeah. So.
Audience
Hi, Elon. My name is Denise and I run Pennsylvania Women for Trump, where Pennsylvania's largest grassroots group. And the best day of my life is when you bought Twitter. It was so freaking awesome.
Audience
I have a point. I do have a point to make. I do want to come work for you. And I gave. I know your best friends here and I gave them all my information. But anyway, I would like to know if you have a solution to Big Pharma. As a mom of three kids with autism, I would like to know, like, what are we going to do about these people poisoning our children? Yeah,
Elon Musk
well, I think transparency and accountability are very important. So now you know. But my opinion of Big Pharma is that there's good and bad. It's not all bad. Obviously there are many life saving drugs that are developed by the big pharma companies and small pharma companies, but there are also mistakes that they make. And so we just need to make sure that the system is actually helping the pharma companies bring life saving cures to market faster. But also that there should be some punishment if they do bad things, just like for any company, you know, and that's, I think it's those just basic common sense rules. So.
Audience
Hi, my name is Madison. I'm 22 years old and I just started my first position in industrial controlled cybersecurity. So like everyone else, I want to say thank you for the inspiration you've been in technology. It's been nice to look at you and what you're doing and see kind of the issues and some of the possibilities in that realm. But for political questions, because I'm assuming that's more appropriate for the vu.
Elon Musk
And to be clear, like the kind of questions that are, that are the best questions to ask are what do you think people out there would like to know the answer to? Or if you know, if there's a comment or a question that you think maybe millions of people would like to know, that's, that's what we're optimizing for here. Yeah.
Audience
Okay, so on that note, I kind of want to go back to the robotics and AI technology developments. I think that regulating the technology itself is a vain effort. And you've obviously worked in the development a lot. Can you speak to kind of what you've seen about human centric development? Because I think that might be the only thing that's going to protect us from things getting out of hand.
Elon Musk
Yeah, I'm not sure I totally understand the question, but I do think that any given technology that's developed, the goal of it should be to help humanity and to bring joy to people and help people. And so that's to be clear, I do think there is a role for regulators. You know, just like there is a role for referees in a sports game. Like every sports game has referees. You know, tonight's Steelers game, they got referees. And it's a better game for having referees. But you don't want to have so many refs on the field, you know, that the running back can't even get through them. You know, it's like, it's like I can't catch the ball because I have like 20 referees in my way. That's the situation we have in industry today is far too many refs on the field, sometimes more refs than players. You know, and if you saw that in a sports game, you're like, this is crazy. But, But. But I'm not. I want to be clear. Like, I'm not saying no regulation. I'm just saying sensible regulation. You want the right number of referees in the field, but not any more than that. So. Yeah.
Elon Musk
Thank you for everything you've done recently to help save our country from ruin. It's really appreciated. You're most welcome. There's a rumor floating. Thank you for doing things to help the country, too. Yeah, that's right. There's a rumor floating around that you have interest in investing in our city, which I hope is true, and if so, let me know where I can submit my resume. Well, I'm a big fan of Pennsylvania, and I think there's, you know, there's a good chance that one of my companies does something in the future in Pennsylvania. Go see me. Who we vote for in our office will ultimately shape the future of our country. If that statement is true, the most important members of our society that we can think about when voting in elections would be our children and our grandchildren, since they are not eligible to vote and we have others voting for selfish reasons. Would you be in. What would be your thoughts on reshaping voter eligibility? Some sort of criteria or guidelines that must be met in order to vote? You mean like changing being an active tax voter? Oh, okay. Well, I mean, frankly, I'd be happy if it was just that, you know, citizens voted. You know, I call that a win. You know, if we can just make sure that only legal citizens can vote, which is how it's supposed to be, I'd say that would be quite a victory compared to where we have right now. So just, you know, I think having more transparency on elections. Maximum transparency on elections. And as I've said before, I think we should not allow voting machines of any kind. So, you know, I've been programming computers since I was nine years old, and, you know, I know how easy it is to get a line of software wrong or hack a computer. And so I think the last thing we want to do is have electronic voting machines. We want paper ballots in person with id. And. And. And actually, it sort of. Sort of in terms of an. Of a real AI danger that hopefully is not there this year, but will certainly be a danger in the future is that advanced AI will be super good at hacking computers. And so if. If those. If you have Voting machines that are connected to the Internet and you've got super advanced AI that can potentially affect those machines. I think that's very dangerous. So we actually. So what I'm saying is that I'm only someone who favors technology. I'm super, you know, 21st section. I'm 21st century technology boy right here. And I'm saying no machines for voting. Yeah.
Audience
Hi, Elon. My name's Andy. I'm a technologist.
Elon Musk
I consider myself like you in that way.
Audience
Sadly, I missed you at the Robotaxi event last week. I actually got a ticket, couldn't make it. Looked amazing.
Elon Musk
Super excited for the future.
Audience
Thank you for being here.
Elon Musk
Onto my question.
Audience
I was disappointed by the current administration's lack of inclusion of you and Tesla at the EV Summit. Yeah, Tesla is a truly great American company that should be cherished for its
Elon Musk
technology that's advanced humankind and provided a
Audience
number, a large number of American jobs. My question is, how can the Trump administration kindle the growth of the automotive, EV and autonomous tech industries?
Elon Musk
Well, honestly, I go back to, to minimizing, you know, government intervention. You know, in general, I'm very much in favor of small government and that, like, there shouldn't be incentives, tax breaks, or for anything at all. That would be like, no incentives for anything at all. Whether it's that, that includes oil and gas, electric cars, no nothing. No incentives for nothing. You know, so, you know, so like the, the tax code is, is, is like, I mean, you know, you could fill this room with the tax code. It's, it's like so called. I think only, only an AI could even understand the tax code. Maybe, you know, I, I think we want to have a tax code you can actually read both as a human, you know, instead of having, like, there might be, it might be upwards of a million different tax breaks or tax loopholes or whatever. It's insane. So, you know, like I said, I think we want minimal government action and maximum freedom for the people, and that is what leads to the highest level of prosperity. Yeah. Given how, given how punitive the SEC has been towards crypto under this administration, do you envision the XRP ledger being incorporated into the financial institutions in the future? Well, I certainly cannot speak to any specific crypto, but, you know, I do think that the sort of cryptocurrency is an interesting and probably valuable bulwark against a centralized control. So, you know, and this is definitely not an endorsement or lack of endorsement for xrp, but, but I do think crypto by, by its very nature, Is it helps with individual freedom. All right, so, Mr. Musk, thank you very much for coming. Also, as a Pittsburgh fan, I hope to see you at tonight's game. That'd be pretty incredible. I actually would love to be there. I got to get back and see my kids. Speaking of kids. Okay, so. So my question, as well as I'm sure many millions of Americans, I'm a young entrepreneur and voter, we are spending so much money in a lot of useless ways, I feel, in the government spending. So a lot of that also is very irritating as a voter is the money that we are spending overseas in not helping our own country, like in North Carolina and down south right now. I want to know, is it possible when you get in here into the government of efficiency, how are you going to help us with spending money efficiently and using our tax money? Well, yeah. Well, I think the step number one is spend a lot less of it. So it's like the first order of business is to say, any given expenditure, we should. I think we want to zero budget the thing, say, like, let's start from scratch. Not because it doesn't make sense to reduce a foolish expenditure by 10% if it should be zero. And I bet there's not a bet. I know there's a lot of. Lot of things that are super wasteful. I mean, look at the sort of $42 billion that's been allocated for rural rural broadband. You know, SpaceX won like a quarter of it, and then they rescinded that contract for political reasons. And in fact, it would have meant a bunch of those terminals would have been in the affected hurricane areas. So that could have cost lives. So that kind of political warfare is unconscionable. And you know how many people have been connected by that? 42 billion. Literally zero. So I would say that program should be zero because value for money is zero. Hi, Elon. I'm 20 years old, and instead of going to college, I decided to start my own business. Your innovativeness inspires me. What is a piece of advice you would have for someone like me or me to be as innovative as you are in business?
Elon Musk
I didn't really set out to be innovative. You know, I think you want to set out with saying, like, what's a useful product or service that people, you think people would like and then try to make that thing real. And I think as long as you're doing an honest day's work and providing useful products and services to people, I think you should be very proud of that. I have a huge Respect for anyone who puts in an honest day's work contributing to society. So that's what matters.
Audience
Good afternoon, Elon. As somebody who is directly involved in the pioneering of space travel, was your perspective on the suppression of advanced technologies under UAP crash retrieval programs and other black projects such as Immaculate Constellation, that have the potential to fundamentally change human society?
Elon Musk
I'm not familiar with those programs, but, I mean, I certainly think if there are technologies that can be helpful, the government's aware of it. We should obviously provide that technology to the people. So I should say that people often ask me, do I believe in aliens? And I said, well, I was one, you know, according to Homeland Security, until I got my, you know, I got it literally said alien registration card. I'm like, cool. So. But I mean, thus far, I have not personally, I'm not aware of any evidence for aliens on Earth. I'm not saying they don't. They're not here. But I have not seen any evidence for aliens. And for our Starling Constellation, we have never had to maneuver around an alien spacecraft even once. And we've got 6,000 satellites up there. So, I mean, they're very subtle is what I'm saying, these aliens. But I think if there's, like, I don't know, if there's interesting stuff that's that the government's aware of that American people would find interesting or useful, which obviously make that known. We should publish it. So thank you.
Audience
Hey, Elon. My name is Jordan Scott Gilbert, and I'm a Broadway producer and movie director
Elon Musk
who creates conservative content and Christian content
Audience
for stage and film. As you know, a lot of conservatives and Christians have been blacklisted from Hollywood and Broadway. So my question to you is, would
Elon Musk
you consider creating an entertainment company to also save art as well as Western civilization?
Audience
And what role do you think art plays in protecting freedom of speech and our constitutional freedoms?
Elon Musk
Yeah, I think. Yeah. Well, I'm glad that you're making art that is on the right. I mean, it's because I think, you know, you have to say, like, where do kids and adults. Where do they. How do they get informed of what. What's going on? What moral underpinnings are conveyed in the art that is produced? And there should be more people that are making interesting art, whether it's plays, movies, books that are on the right, because it's overwhelmingly on the left. So I'm glad you're doing this, and I hope more people do it. I mean, I'd appreciate just art that's in the center, frankly, It'd be quite nice. It's like, it's like, like I enjoy playing video crew. Ask me like what my hobbies are. It's like, well, you know, I'm a technology nerd, so I like playing video games. So. So. And it's like, it's really annoying when video game gets interrupted by some DEI woke bullshit. And I'm like, jesus, I just, I was like, I was playing a video game here. Can you just leave the video games alone? You know, you don't want to do things that damage art so it breaks you out of the story.
Audience
Hi, Elon. My name is Nolan Duncan and it's my goal to one day make our region proud by being just as successful and driven as you. One thing we do share though is the love and pride of our country. Anyway, I'm a small business owner, a recently sworn in firefighter, all while having a full time job, which I may not have after today.
Elon Musk
Really? Why not?
Audience
I'm late. I'm 30 minutes late.
Elon Musk
But I'm doing this because I love
Audience
our country and I love all of you who are fighting to make this country great again.
Elon Musk
So let's keep it up.
Audience
Yes, Jobs are all a dime a dozen anymore. I'll find a new one if I have to.
Elon Musk
Yeah, I think I'll be fine.
Audience
I began this journey a year ago with the intent to become self sufficient and take control of my destiny as an entrepreneur. However, it is utterly apparent that our government, rather the incompetents who run it, are self sabotaging our future generations. And at this point, it is imperative that we protect our republic with safer and transparent elections.
Elon Musk
This is rather. Oh, I'm sorry, yeah, no, I absolutely, very much agree. Oh, good.
Audience
This is a rather novel concept to many in this room, but for the future, and since you are actively involved in cryptocurrency.
Elon Musk
I'm not actively involved in crypto, to be clear.
Elon Musk
Okay. So no, I mean, I, you know, you know, I am. I'm actually not actively involved in crypto.
Elon Musk
Okay. Dogecoin, you know, I make, I make dogecoin jokes and stuff because I just, I kind of like dogecoin because it's got the best sense of humor and it has dogs and memes and I love all those things.
Audience
So anyway, what are your thoughts on implementing the blockchain for future elections? And also as a content creator, X has so many, so much potential. Would you consider making X a dominant force against video and streaming platforms such as YouTube? And Twitch to compete against these ridiculous policies that empower content creators to their fullest.
Elon Musk
Yeah, absolutely. We definitely want to have an X. Well, it does. It does currently enable, you know, up to four hour videos and we'll soon be offering, you know, 4K resolution. And we're continuing to improve our streaming capability for gamers that want to stream or anyone that wants to stream content. So, you know, we've made a lot of progress and hopefully we can offer an alternative. The X app is now available on big TVs, so you can actually watch stuff on TVs. And yeah, I think it's generally good to have competition. I mean, competition is what. Competition keeps companies honest. Yeah. Thank you. First off, I wanted to thank you for saving democracy and all your contributions to civilization. Thank you. My question is, I'm 24 years old. What key advice would you give to the younger generation wanting to start a family? I mean, my advice regarding starting a family is start immediately. Yeah, I think people worry too much about having kids and sometimes it's difficult to make ends meet and whatnot. But honestly, there's really no time like the present. Just have kids. You won't be sorry. It'll work out. Hi, Elon, thanks for being here today. With your, with your Department of Efficiency. How far back do you think we're going to have to go in order to right the wrongs that are in this country? Well, I don't know. I mean, there's certainly a lot of work for a Department of Government efficiency, and there will be immense opposition, obviously, to making government more efficient from entrenched interests that currently benefit from, you know, sucking away vast amounts of taxpayer money. They will not like the fact that they're not getting it anymore. They will fight tooth and nail. So. But it's got to be done. And like I said, we're going to aim to, you know, reduce government spending, get government out of people's lives as much as possible, and restore freedom and liberty.
Audience
Hello, Mr. Musk. My name is ally offit and I'm secretary of the carnegie mellon college republicans. Before I ask my quick question, I would love to welcome your son to join our club next year.
Audience
Second, I just wanted to ask, I wanted to ask you what was the driving problem that got you into politics and what was that breaking point that made you really want to get into politics?
Elon Musk
Yeah, well, as I said, I really would prefer not to be in politics at all. And the reason that I have stepped into the political arena this time is because I think the stakes are Extremely fundamental. I think democracy is on the line. I think Constitution's on the line. And I fear that if Trump does not win, we're going to be, you know, we're going to have a single party state. It's going to be like California, but actually worse than California. Because the one thing that keeps California from going even further than they do go is that people can move out of California and still be in America. But if you've got no place to move, then it's going to be much worse than California. And that's the danger that we face. So sort of an oppressive totalitarian state that has extreme restrictions on freedom of speech, that, you know, continues extreme over regulation that just basically makes government even bigger than it is today and takes away the liberty of the people. So it was not something I wanted to do, but I felt it was, it was critical to do it or America is not going to be America. Over 100 years ago, Nikola Tesla dreamed of delivering free and unlimited energy, not just to the people of the United States, but to the people of the world. And he was up against a dirty machine. You know, same machine that we're fighting today. Same machine that's been suppressing suiciding inventors for decades, as evidenced by Secrecy invention Act of 1951. We need somebody that has the wallet to not care what people think and not be bullied around while having the guts to give the finger to the adversaries. And whether it's through government efficiency or private sector, if you're taking suggestions, I would encourage you to pursue that avenue to give the people of the earth, you know, something clean, renewable, efficient. And imagine what kind of rockets you could build with ethereal energy. So if you would like to discuss it more, I'm getting sushi afterwards if you want to join me, but I would love to hear your thoughts on that. Well, like some, I mean, I think we want to get government out of people's lives and give people their liberty and freedom back and allow them to keep more of their hard earned money. And I think that's what leads to prosperity and happier people. So that's what we're going to aim for. So I'll take a couple more questions and call that, call it a day.
Audience
Hi Elon, I'm Edwin. I believe that you are the Benjamin Franklin of our times. And thank you for unapologetically being you. My question is, on several occasions in your life, you have bet the farm on highly ambitious and almost improbable goals in spite of well intentioned advices from friends, family and even your idols, like Neil Armstrong saying, don't do it, Elon. Yeah, most people would break under that kind of pressure. So how did you get them? Or how do you get the mental fortitude to listen to all of that advice, process it, realize you're probably going to fail and go ahead and do it in spite of the fear?
Elon Musk
Yeah, I mean, when starting SpaceX and Tesla, you know, people said, you're probably going to fail. And I agreed with them. I said, yeah, I think the probability of success is less than 10%. But, but I felt if we didn't try to do something radical in space and with electric, electric cars, then, you know, nothing was happening. Like the existing big companies were not innovating. Like the cost of access to space was actually increasing every year in the us not decreasing. And there was no, you know, it was basically, we were doing less and less every year in space exploration, not, not more. And so I was like, well if, you know, even, even if it's like a 1% chance of SpaceX succeeding, that's still better than nothing. So, you know, I was like, you know, the people tell me this joke so many times, like what, what's the best way to make a small fortune in the space industry is to start with a large one. And, and I was like, I. So, so then when people, you know, would ask, tell me that joke, I would say, well, I was trying to figure out how to make a small, for a large fortune to a small one. And like, how do you know? Yeah, exactly. So, you know, so, so it wasn't with the expectation of success that, that we started SpaceX and Tesla was with the expectation of failure. But we felt this, it was important enough nonetheless to give it our best shot. And we just barely made it. You know, SpaceX, the first three flights didn't succeed, the fourth one did. And if that fourth one had failed, I was out of money and company would not exist. So. And it was the same thing for Tesla. You know, same thing with Tesla. 2008 was a really tough year because that's when we had the third rocket failure and the auto industry was busy going bankrupt. You know, GM and Chrysler went bankrupt in early 2009 and they're busy going bankrupt in late 2008. And in the case of Tesla, we closed the financing route of Tesla and I gave all the money that I had left and we closed that financing round in the last hour of the last day that it was possible. It was around 5pm, Christmas Eve 2008 and if that round had not closed in that call, Tesla would have bounced payroll two days after Christmas.
Audience
Good afternoon, Elon. I thank you for saving my son's life at the age of 25 and his little red Y Tesla going 77 miles an hour on the turnpike. A deer jumped the cabin, knew there was an impact. It lifted the front hood. So this. The deer was not in my son's lap. So thank you. Thank you for that. Secondly, my question is.
Elon Musk
Yeah, we do actually. The top priority for Tesla design and engineering is actually safety. So that's.
Audience
And that's why he bought your s. And now he has your cyber truck and he is 25 and you are his inspiration and he was to be here. But he didn't get the ticket. Mom did. So my question is as, as an educator for over 20 years and for the rights to bear arms, why in the public schools do we not have a team of concealed to carry professional staff, faculty on all colleges, public schools that are completely under confidentiality and highly trained to protect our schools? And if we cannot protect, protect our children, then can you design equipment that will allow our schools and our campuses to be freely safe of any man or woman who thinks that they are going to take us down? Sure.
Elon Musk
Well, you know, I don't actually have an answer for everything, so I'm doing my best here to just, you know, answer questions as best I can and, you know, hopefully get most of them right and probably some wrong, but. And then correct the ones that are wrong. But yeah, I do think there are things, steps we can take to improve safety on campus and on schools. And I think if there are highly trusted teachers who are willing to, we need to make sure obviously they're highly trusted and very capable who are willing to have firearms to protect the kids. I think we should probably let them do it. All right, so I'll just do two. Just this question and one more and then we'll call it a day.
Audience
Hi, I'm one of the Pennsylvania conservatives in the Pennsylvania Democratic conservatives in the room. My father and brother have been in the House of Representatives for 24 and 22 years. Pro life, pro gun, pro military, pro First Amendment, pro Second Amendment. My problem is my vote didn't get counted. I voted for Trump in 2016. I voted for him in 2020. I received this letter in the mail from Harrisburg saying that my vote did not get counted.
Elon Musk
And what concerns me, actually, I'd like to understand more about that. So how did that work?
Audience
I don't know. I work the polls. I've Always worked the polls. I go for conservative Democrats. I go on a federal level for the Republicans, and like I said, I've always gone to the polls. So to find out that my vote has not been counted when I voted for Trump in both elections concerns me because my vote for my own brother didn't get counted as well. So I think that's happening to a lot of us.
Elon Musk
There's no explanation.
Audience
There's no explanation. I mean, if I didn't get this letter, I would not have known that my vote wasn't counted. So I think that's happened to a lot of us because we are standing with.
Elon Musk
That seems really crazy.
Elon Musk
And it seems like you could have it if they say they got to give a reason for that.
Audience
There's no reason. No one seems to. Even when I call, they're like, we don't know. We don't. We don't. We don't know anything. I just work here.
Elon Musk
Well, I think we definitely want to understand how widespread this is and, you know, definitely use the X platform to publicize anything that you think is an issue. You know, if we just, you know, we want to investigate anything that is. That is messed up, and that's. That sounds pretty messed up. At a minimum, they should tell you why your vote wasn't counted. I mean, was there something that you didn't fill out or what?
Audience
Oh, no, I went to the. I went to the polls and I signed. I've done it for, you know, 40 years now. So, yeah, it's strange, but I think I'm one of probably hundreds of thousands that voice has been silent.
Elon Musk
Well, I think it would be good to just count up, like, how many people are in your position. And for sure, that does seem messed up. Like, the state should be required to tell you exactly why it wasn't counted. And so, you know, that you at least understand there was an error in the form. There was something, because it was just saying it wasn't counted with no explanation is totally unacceptable. So. How you doing, Elon? Good. How's it going? My name's Logic. I'm a creative professional out of Pittsburgh, and I represent my people, my community. And some of the questions that we may have and some of the insight
Audience
that I have from me personally, being a single father here in this city, also making it through the change in
Elon Musk
circumstances of the economy as it becomes worse than I've ever known it to be, and the seriousness of this election,
Audience
you know, me, I'm not one that really believes in voting myself, but I Feel like I do not want to leave anything to happenstance in this election and I know that we need to
Elon Musk
get somebody who's really going to be
Audience
intelligent with their leadership.
Elon Musk
So you know, there's a lot of
Audience
things I would like to talk about, but I do have many ideas. I like what you're doing right now and I commend you on, on putting
Elon Musk
yourself out here, you know, to make
Audience
these changes and to take these risks that matter.
Elon Musk
My name is Logic.
Audience
L H A G I C dot com. You can find out more about me and what I do and that's all I want to say.
Elon Musk
All right, well, thank you. Please, please do everything you can to convince people to vote and register to vote. All right, I'll do two more questions and then I got to get back to see my kids. Honestly, that's the, that is the, that's where I'm going right after this.
Audience
So I'll make it really fast.
Elon Musk
Want to get to see it before bedtime as well.
Audience
Thank you. Thank you so much. This opportunity is way cool. Thank you very much. Emotional conversations often polarize into win lose dynamics and there's like an individual focus or thinking where systems thinking, especially when it comes to the relationship system suggests that there's unseen forces, possibly, possibly evolutionary shaping how natural living systems like humanity manage tension. How might AI help navigate these charged conversations? Especially if it's built by, with the same blind spots we all have.
Elon Musk
I'm, I, honestly I'm, I'm not sure. I think AI, I think will, it'll be vastly smarter than humans and I think it probably will help. Like I said, it's 80% likely to be helpful, maybe 90. And you know, I can certainly see it being very helpful with, with you know, medicine and helping people understand, get, get healthy and whatnot. So, but it's not a panacea. It'll, it'll, you know, it is a double edged sword. So I, I, I'm not sure I have a great answer to that except we just need to pay close attention to AI and ring the alarm bell if we see that it's going in a bad direction. Thank you. Last question.
Audience
Thank you. Elon, thanks so much for being here. Thank you for your courage and for everything you've done for America. My question is pertaining to the voting machines this election. There are numerous features this isn't exhaustive. A switch feature feature, a multiplication feature. Been waiting to ask you this since 2020. Are you confident that this is a battle that can be won? Are there plans in place? Are There protections in place. Have you talked to President Trump about this? With your technological proficiency and higher level
Elon Musk
of knowledge, I think the best way to address this, you know, any potential fraud. I don't know what's real and what's not real, but I've made my position clear that we should not have machines involved. We should have paper ballots in person with id. That's the sure thing. And especially as we get to an AI future, because like I said, the AI could hack the voting machines and then we wouldn't even know what's going on. We do not want voting machines connected to the Internet or electronic in any way whatsoever. So can't emphasize that enough. Now with respect to this election, I think any sort of voting, you know, concerns that people have should be posted on the X platform and on every platform and, you know, be very loud about it if you have any concerns so that they can like. The brighter the light we shine on any voting issues, the less likely there is to be cheating then. And then the other thing is that is to win by such a margin that even if there is cheating, the margin is so great that you beat the cheat. So with that, thank you. All right, thank you everyone. It's been an honor speaking to you and I enjoyed the questions and let's just go ultra hardcore. Remember, only have until tomorrow night to get people registered. So please think you've got one goal. Get people registered by midnight tomorrow. Thank you.