Elon Musk marked his last-minute Davos debut on Thursday with a critique of U.S. solar tariffs and aggressive targets for Tesla, including humanoid robot sales next year, as well as flagging European approval for self-driving tech within weeks.
After years of describing the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting as elitist, unaccountable and disconnected from ordinary people, the world’s richest man was interviewed by World Economic Forum interim co-chair Larry Fink.
The BlackRock CEO expressed his admiration for Musk at the start of the wide-ranging discussion, which covered the future of robots and AI, the economic benefits of reusable rockets and Musk’s childhood fascination with science fiction.
Musk has become more prominent in recent years, driven by his proximity to U.S. President Donald Trump and his stewardship of firms including Starlink-owner SpaceX, social media platform X and artificial intelligence startup, xAI.
Breaking ranks with Trump on renewable energy, Musk said the United States could produce enough solar power to meet all of its electricity needs, including booming demand from the proliferation of Big Tech’s power-hungry data centres.
