Elon Musk pitched sustainable power, mind implants, and house exploration in an article printed 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 accountable for creating and implementing insurance policies surrounding on-line content material, person information, and digital safety. The CAC later created {a magazine} that, in accordance with China Media Mission senior researcher, Stella Chen, sometimes contains 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 gives an English translation of Musk’s article in a submit on his Substack e-newsletter, 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 firms had been all based with the last 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 power, Neuralink for medical rehabilitation, SpaceX for making interstellar connections potential.
He additionally cites a few of his loftier objectives as examples of the type of expertise his firms might (finally) create, comparable to a “self-sustaining metropolis on Mars,” a means 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 individuals might probably be capable of purchase a robotic as a present in “lower than a decade.”
In a tweet, Liu calls the article a “good transfer” on Musk’s behalf, because it permits him “to grab the chance to showcase the technological prowess of his firms to Chinese language officers and the general public.”
“I hope extra folks will be part of us in our combat to speed up the world’s transition to sustainable power,” Musk states. “I additionally welcome extra like-minded Chinese language companions to affix us in exploring clear power, synthetic intelligence, human-machine collaboration, and house exploration to create a future value ready for.”
Musk’s look in a publication run by the CAC conflicts along with his outspoken advocacy totally free speech, the very idea that impressed his choice 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 carried out quite a few 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 comprises “prohibited info,” 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 preferred 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 not too long ago proposed legal guidelines that will require social platforms to overview each remark posted by customers.
