In his own words.

“I think there is a strong humanitarian argument for making life multi-planetary, in order to have a kind of insurance policy against the myriad of possible events that could ultimately extinguish Earth-based consciousness.”

— Reddit AMA, Jun 2016

“I tend to approach things from a physics framework. Physics teaches you to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. So I said, okay, let's look at the first principles. What is a rocket made of? Aerospace-grade aluminum alloys, plus some titanium, copper, and carbon fiber.”

— TED 2013, Feb 2013

“If one can figure out how to effectively reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred. A fully reusable vehicle has never been done before. That really is the fundamental breakthrough needed to revolutionize access to space.”

— SpaceX press conference, Dec 2015

“In order to have a self-sustaining city on Mars, you need on the order of a million people. And you need the resources to build a city. And rockets. A lot of rockets.”

— IAC 2016 — Making Humanity a Multiplanetary Species, Sep 2016

“The key is making the cost of moving to Mars roughly equivalent to the median house price in the United States — around $200,000. That's when you get massive enough numbers.”

— IAC 2017 — Making Life Multiplanetary, Sep 2017

“Starship is intended to be a fully reusable transportation system to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”

— Starship Update 2019, Sep 2019

“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”

— Wired 2005, Apr 2005

“When Falcon 1 failed the third time, we had enough money for one more flight. I was absolutely certain we'd succeed, but I wasn't sure what I was going to do if we didn't.”

— Lex Fridman Podcast #252, Dec 2021

“I think fundamentally the future is vastly more exciting and interesting if we're a spacefaring civilization and a multi-planet species than if we're not. You want to be inspired by things, you want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great.”

— TED2017, Apr 2017

“Build sports car. Use that money to build an affordable car. Use that money to build an even more affordable car. While doing above, also provide zero emission electric power generation options.”

— Tesla Master Plan (Part 1), Aug 2006

“The point of all this was, and remains, accelerating the advent of sustainable energy, so that we can imagine far into the future and life is still good. That's what 'sustainable' means. It's not some silly short-term thing.”

— Tesla Master Plan Part Deux, Jul 2016

“Prototypes are easy. Production is hard.”

— tweet, Jul 2018

“I'm going to be living here for a while. The Model 3 production ramp is the most difficult manufacturing challenge I've ever seen. Like eating glass.”

— tweet, Jun 2018

“Tesla is not just an automotive company. It is also a software company, an energy storage company, and an AI and robotics company.”

— Tesla Q3 2023 Earnings Call, Oct 2023

“I want to be clear that I am not saying that FSD is perfect; it's not perfect. But it is improving rapidly, and the question is: at what point does it become better than the average human? I believe that point is close.”

— Tesla Q4 2023 Earnings Call, Jan 2024

“An electric pickup truck needs to be seriously next-level or it's not worth it. The exterior is an exoskeleton. No paint. Shatter-proof glass. Does the Terminator have feelings? I'll think about it.”

— tweet, Nov 2019

“I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I were to guess like what our biggest existential threat is, it's probably that. So we need to be very careful with the artificial intelligence.”

— MIT AeroAstro Centennial Symposium, Oct 2014

“We are already a cyborg to a degree that we don't appreciate. You have a digital version of yourself online. If we can create a high-bandwidth interface to the brain, we can actually go along for the ride.”

— Joe Rogan Experience #1169, Sep 2018

“With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon. You know all those stories where there's the guy with the pentagram and the holy water and he's like, yeah, he's sure he can control the demon? Doesn't work out.”

— MIT AeroAstro Centennial Symposium, Oct 2014

“Your input bandwidth to your phone is very slow. It's like a slow serial connection. Neuralink wants to create a high bandwidth interface to the digital world such that you can actually be symbiotic with AI instead of left behind.”

— Neuralink launch event 2019, Jul 2019

“The first use will be in people with serious spinal cord injuries or ALS, so that they could use a computer or phone faster than someone who doesn't have a spinal cord injury.”

— Neuralink progress update 2020, Aug 2020

“AI is the most disruptive technology in human history, more than fire, more than electricity. And it could be beneficial or it could be fatal. And the probability of it being fatal is not zero — it could be like 10 or 20 percent.”

— WSJ CEO Council Summit 2023, Dec 2023

“Open source AI is probably better for safety than closed source. Having many eyes on the code, many developers iterating, many safety researchers scrutinizing — that's better than having it locked up where no one can see it.”

— Joe Rogan Experience #2054, Nov 2023

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”

— Twitter/X acquisition statement, Apr 2022

“Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom of reach. Negative/hate speech will get less reach and less advertising revenue, but it won't be banned unless it's illegal.”

— tweet, Nov 2022

“I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”

— tweet, Oct 2022

“Twitter is the town square of the internet. If the town square is captured by one political viewpoint, we have a serious problem.”

— TED2022, Apr 2022

“Work like hell. I mean you just have to put in 80 to 100 hour weeks every week. This improves the odds of success. If other people are putting in 40 hour work weeks and you're putting in 100 hour work weeks, then even if you're doing the same thing you know that you will achieve in 4 months what it takes them a year to achieve.”

— Aeon interview 2014, Nov 2014

“The best part is no part. The best process is no process. It weighs nothing, costs nothing, can't go wrong.”

— Tesla AI Day 2021, Aug 2021

“We basically take the whole front and rear body — which used to be 70+ parts — and cast it as a single piece. It's like casting with Lego. One piece.”

— Tesla Battery Day 2020, Sep 2020

“If conventional thinking makes your mission impossible, then unconventional thinking is necessary.”

— Lex Fridman Podcast #252, Dec 2021

“The line between genius and madness is very thin. And I think I may have crossed it a few times.”

— Rolling Stone November 2017, Nov 2017

“There's a one in a billion chance we're in base reality. Essentially, if you assume any rate of improvement at all, then games will be indistinguishable from reality, or civilization will end. One of those two things will occur. Therefore, we are most likely in a simulation.”

— Code Conference 2016, Jun 2016

“I think it's important to have a future that is inspiring and appealing. There just have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Why do you want to live? What's the point? What inspires you? What do you love about the future?”

— TED2017, Apr 2017

“I take the position that I'm probably wrong and keep that in mind. It helps me be open to new information. Critics are useful.”

— Lex Fridman Podcast #400, Jan 2024

“I don't ever give up. I'd have to be dead or completely incapacitated. Fear of failure shouldn't inhibit you from doing things. But you need to ask yourself: is this failure acceptable? Is the goal worth it?”

— Foundation, Sep 2012

“If you can properly phrase the question, then the answer is the easy part.”

— tweet, May 2021

“I was raised by books. Books, and then my parents. I was reading a lot of science fiction, and that kind of thing. It really shaped my worldview.”

— Lex Fridman Podcast #148, Dec 2020

“The universe as we know it will dissipate into a thin haze of cold nothingness in the very end. If that's the case, consciousness is like a brief light in the darkness. We should take whatever actions we can to extend that light into the future.”

— Lex Fridman Podcast #49, Nov 2019

“I try very hard to tell the truth. I'm not perfect at it. But I try. Because I think truth is really important. Without truth, you cannot fix problems.”

— Lex Fridman Podcast #252, Dec 2021

“When the rocket launched successfully, the thing that surprised me most was the emotion. I didn't expect to feel that much. I mean — humanity's future depends on getting this right.”

— Joe Rogan Experience #1470, May 2020

“I'm not a regular weed smoker. I don't actually notice any effect. People confuse me with pot. I'm high on life.”

— Joe Rogan Experience #1169, Sep 2018

“We may have something that is smarter than any single human next year. By 2025, probably smarter than all humans combined. That's where it seems to be heading, unless something goes fundamentally wrong.”

— VivaTech 2024, Jun 2024

“The goal of Grok is to understand the universe. Which is a noble goal. And also: maximum truth-seeking, minimal political bias.”

— tweet, Nov 2023

“The mission of xAI is to understand the true nature of the universe. That's actually the mission statement. Understand the true nature of the universe.”

— xAI launch, Jul 2023

“If you wanted to power the entire US with solar panels, it would take a fairly small corner of Nevada or Texas, compared to the size of the US. The key is to have stationary storage batteries as well.”

— TED2013, Feb 2013

“We must pass through a transition period where we use fossil fuels. But we should do so with the awareness that we need to get to sustainable energy as quickly as possible.”

— Tesla Master Plan Part 1, Aug 2006

“Starting a company is like eating glass and staring into the abyss. If you're not willing to do that, you probably shouldn't start a company.”

— Stanford Entrepreneurship, Jan 2014

“I'm somewhat capital-light. I do spend money in ways where I think it has a high probability of being useful for humanity. If I can do that, then I'm fine with spending money. But I'm not trying to amass wealth for its own sake.”

— WSJ CEO Council Summit 2021, Dec 2021

“Some people don't like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster. Sometimes you've got to look at the internal metrics and what you know about physics, rather than asking customers what they want.”

— Product Design conference, Jul 2012

“The talent is everywhere. You can find brilliant people everywhere in the world. They're just not given the opportunities. And I'm trying to change that.”

— Axel Springer Award 2020, Dec 2020

“Let that sink in.”

— tweet, Oct 2022

“Tesla stock price is too high imo”

— tweet, May 2020

“Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.”

— tweet, Aug 2018

“I am Iron Man.”

— tweet, Apr 2019

“What's Facebook?”

— tweet, Mar 2018

“Take the red pill”

— tweet, May 2020

“Doge barking at the moon”

— tweet, Apr 2021

“I do view competition as a good thing. I want Tesla to succeed, but I also want the world to go sustainable. If GM and Ford and Toyota make great EVs, that's great. That's actually a win.”

— Tesla 2019 Annual Shareholder Meeting, Jun 2019

“I don't have a problem with short sellers per se. What I do have a problem with is people who do naked short selling combined with a disinformation campaign.”

— Interview 2020, Mar 2020

“The first Neuralink product is called Telepathy. It enables control of your phone, your computer, and through them virtually any device, just by thinking.”

— tweet, Jan 2024

“The government is the biggest corporation in the world. And it's run terribly inefficiently. We need to cut at least $2 trillion out of the deficit. That's the goal.”

— America PAC event 2024, Oct 2024