Verdict with Ted Cruz - January 02, 2026


A Look Inside Elon Musk's Vision: Complete Interview


Episode Stats

Length

55 minutes

Words per Minute

186.40895

Word Count

10,390

Sentence Count

157

Misogynist Sentences

7

Hate Speech Sentences

18


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.620 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.160 Well, first off, welcome.
00:00:06.020 It is Verdict with Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.
00:00:08.600 Happy New Year, Senator, to you as well and to everyone listening right now.
00:00:13.420 And we've got a really fun show that we're going to do today on New Year's.
00:00:17.380 And it deals with waste, fraud, and abuse that we talked about
00:00:20.200 that's now becoming a reality in Minnesota months ago
00:00:23.120 with your good friend Elon Musk.
00:00:26.020 Well, Happy New Year to everyone.
00:00:27.740 I hope you had a fantastic New Year's Eve.
00:00:29.520 I hope you stayed safe.
00:00:30.700 I hope you enjoyed time with your family.
00:00:32.640 You celebrated.
00:00:33.820 I hope you're ready now for an incredible 2026.
00:00:37.220 I hope that you accomplish something that really makes a difference,
00:00:39.960 that you make a difference in the lives of those around you.
00:00:43.540 You make a difference in the lives of your kids and your community.
00:00:46.620 And you make a real impact fighting for our country.
00:00:50.300 Our country is at a pivotal time.
00:00:52.560 And I hope 2026 is a time where you stand up and say,
00:00:55.720 I am going to stand up and defend our nation like so many patriots
00:00:59.180 who have preceded me.
00:01:00.400 On this New Year's Day, we're going to play one of my favorite podcasts
00:01:04.360 that Ben and I ever did.
00:01:06.060 And this was last year, last summer.
00:01:08.480 We interviewed Elon Musk.
00:01:09.780 Elon Musk is a good friend of mine.
00:01:11.260 We sat down with him for an hour in the White House,
00:01:14.520 talking to him about Doge and what he was doing with President Trump,
00:01:18.300 but also talking to him personally about who he is,
00:01:21.940 about how he built Tesla, how he built SpaceX.
00:01:25.100 We talked to him about AI and killer robots.
00:01:28.260 And it's a fascinating show.
00:01:30.180 And we present it to you right now in its entirety.
00:01:33.560 Make sure you download it wherever you get your podcasts.
00:01:36.820 It's a great episode.
00:01:37.940 It's out right now.
00:01:39.480 Verdict with Ted Cruz, wherever you get your podcasts.
00:01:41.700 Well, we're in the White House right now,
00:01:44.280 and we're here with my friend Elon Musk,
00:01:46.560 who really has not been doing much of anything,
00:01:49.100 has not made any news,
00:01:50.640 and nobody has noticed the impact.
00:01:54.580 Welcome, Elon.
00:01:55.520 Thank you.
00:01:55.920 Holy crap.
00:01:57.340 Yes, wow.
00:01:58.440 Let me just say...
00:02:00.640 Never a dull moment.
00:02:01.560 Never a dull moment.
00:02:02.860 The first 50 days the president has spent in office,
00:02:06.560 over the top,
00:02:07.400 and the first 50 days you've spent,
00:02:10.160 I don't think there's ever been anyone
00:02:11.680 to have an impact the way you have in the beginning.
00:02:14.560 Let me start with a question you know a lot about.
00:02:17.640 Which was worse,
00:02:18.800 the mess you found at Twitter
00:02:20.160 or the mess you found in the federal government?
00:02:23.380 Well, it's hard to compete with the federal government.
00:02:26.080 What surprised you about the federal government?
00:02:27.920 I assume you came in and assumed it was bad.
00:02:30.380 Is it worse than you expected?
00:02:32.780 It is worse than I expected,
00:02:34.900 but on the plus side,
00:02:36.100 that means there's more opportunity for improvement.
00:02:38.920 So, if you look on the bright side,
00:02:41.960 there's actually a lot of opportunity for improvement
00:02:44.340 in federal government expenditures
00:02:45.900 because it's so bad.
00:02:48.200 If it was a well-run ship,
00:02:49.920 it would be very difficult to improve.
00:02:52.340 So now it's like,
00:02:53.480 people say,
00:02:54.000 well, how will you figure out
00:02:55.640 how to save money in the federal government?
00:02:57.040 Well, it's like being in a room
00:02:58.140 where the walls, the roof, and the floor
00:02:59.960 are all targets.
00:03:02.640 You should in any direction,
00:03:04.140 you can't win.
00:03:04.680 Again, I'm sure you would agree.
00:03:08.640 So, a lot of folks have talked about like,
00:03:11.640 you can't win.
00:03:12.380 You can't win.
00:03:12.920 You can't win.
00:03:13.920 This is going in any direction.
00:03:16.400 A lot of the crazy expenditures,
00:03:18.320 things like,
00:03:18.900 like two million bucks
00:03:19.980 for sex change surgeries in Guatemala.
00:03:22.060 An essential.
00:03:23.980 You know, transgendered mice
00:03:26.700 and Sesame Street in Iraq.
00:03:29.180 A lot of that has gotten attention,
00:03:30.580 but some of the stuff you've told me about,
00:03:32.140 like, tell us about computer licenses
00:03:35.380 and government agencies.
00:03:37.100 So, most of what Doge is finding,
00:03:38.860 you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes.
00:03:40.420 It's very obvious, basic stuff.
00:03:43.160 So, in every government department,
00:03:45.860 I say every because we've not yet found
00:03:47.500 a single exception,
00:03:48.900 there are far too many software licenses
00:03:51.240 and media subscriptions,
00:03:54.420 meaning many more software licenses
00:03:56.680 and media subscriptions
00:03:57.760 than there are humans in the department.
00:03:59.280 Like you were saying,
00:04:00.660 like an agency with 15,000 people
00:04:02.300 might have 30,000 licenses.
00:04:04.020 Yes.
00:04:05.440 And even of the 15,000 employees,
00:04:07.900 a good chunk of them
00:04:08.620 hadn't used the license,
00:04:09.720 had never logged on
00:04:10.920 or used the application.
00:04:13.320 Yes.
00:04:14.100 We found entire situations
00:04:16.420 of software licenses
00:04:18.060 or media subscriptions
00:04:19.300 where there were zero logins.
00:04:21.980 Wow.
00:04:22.120 So, it had that.
00:04:22.880 And yet we were paying for it.
00:04:24.080 Yes.
00:04:24.400 So, the government was paying
00:04:25.140 for thousands of licenses
00:04:26.140 of software
00:04:27.340 or media subscriptions
00:04:29.020 and no one had ever logged in
00:04:30.780 even once.
00:04:32.040 Or like credit cards.
00:04:32.900 You found the same thing
00:04:33.680 with government credit cards.
00:04:34.880 We found that there are
00:04:35.900 twice as many credit cards
00:04:37.180 as there are humans.
00:04:38.840 Could you do that just to say?
00:04:39.860 And I still don't have
00:04:40.520 a good explanation
00:04:41.140 for why this is the case.
00:04:42.640 And these are $10,000 limit cards.
00:04:45.380 So, it's a lot of money.
00:04:47.100 Is it incompetence
00:04:48.320 that you're finding
00:04:49.060 or is this like
00:04:49.980 the biggest money laundering scheme
00:04:51.840 in the history of the world
00:04:52.960 that you're finding?
00:04:54.560 Look, I think it's mostly
00:04:55.820 if you say,
00:04:57.260 look, what's the waste
00:04:58.080 to fraud ratio?
00:04:59.500 Yeah.
00:04:59.680 In my opinion,
00:05:01.080 it's like 80% waste,
00:05:03.060 20% fraud.
00:05:04.280 But you do have
00:05:05.500 these sort of gray areas.
00:05:07.720 Yeah.
00:05:08.300 Example.
00:05:09.080 Example would be
00:05:09.840 so,
00:05:11.360 we saw a lot of payments
00:05:12.860 going out of treasury
00:05:14.140 that had no payment code
00:05:17.100 and no explanation
00:05:17.920 for the payment.
00:05:19.140 And then we're trying
00:05:21.060 to figure out
00:05:22.060 what that payment is
00:05:22.820 and we'd see that,
00:05:23.960 okay, that contract
00:05:24.820 was supposed to be shut off
00:05:26.160 but someone forgot
00:05:27.860 to shut off that contract
00:05:29.360 and so the company
00:05:30.540 kept getting money.
00:05:32.380 Wow.
00:05:33.080 Now, is that waste or fraud?
00:05:36.080 Both.
00:05:36.700 Both?
00:05:37.340 Yeah.
00:05:37.780 Yeah.
00:05:38.040 I mean, both.
00:05:38.560 It's sort of a gray area.
00:05:39.660 You're getting something
00:05:40.080 you're not supposed to get.
00:05:41.720 You're not supposed to get it
00:05:42.920 but the government
00:05:44.240 sent it to you
00:05:45.080 and nobody from the government
00:05:46.200 asked for it back.
00:05:47.940 Take, for example,
00:05:48.780 the $1.9 billion
00:05:50.260 given to Stacey Abrams
00:05:51.620 Yeah.
00:05:52.540 fake NGO.
00:05:53.440 Utter insanity.
00:05:54.800 Explain that
00:05:55.300 from the story.
00:05:56.780 That's corrupt.
00:05:58.400 That's just corrupt, I think.
00:05:59.780 That's paying off cronies
00:06:00.900 at that point.
00:06:01.580 1,000%.
00:06:02.140 Yeah, yeah.
00:06:03.080 And by the way, she knew.
00:06:04.500 Like, when you get $2 billion
00:06:05.520 you don't miss that.
00:06:06.900 That's not...
00:06:07.580 It's not an accident.
00:06:09.280 Allegedly, it was for like
00:06:10.720 environmentally friendly appliances
00:06:13.260 or something
00:06:13.720 and they've given like
00:06:15.360 100 appliances so far
00:06:17.120 for $2 billion.
00:06:18.460 It's a very expensive
00:06:19.200 toaster.
00:06:19.840 It's really nice.
00:06:20.700 It's one hell of an appliance.
00:06:21.940 That's some zero fridge.
00:06:23.280 Boy, it's nice.
00:06:24.240 Right.
00:06:24.440 This is obviously
00:06:25.480 one of the biggest
00:06:26.840 scam fraud holes
00:06:28.260 we've uncovered
00:06:28.980 which is really crazy
00:06:30.260 is
00:06:30.780 is that
00:06:32.340 the government
00:06:34.160 can give money
00:06:34.720 to a so-called
00:06:36.000 non-profit
00:06:36.700 with very few controls
00:06:39.220 and then that
00:06:40.000 and there's no auditing
00:06:41.480 subsequently
00:06:41.940 of that non-profit.
00:06:44.040 So there's no...
00:06:45.000 So this is where
00:06:45.600 with the, you know,
00:06:46.620 1.9 billion
00:06:47.180 to Stacey Abrams
00:06:47.780 who's...
00:06:49.420 They then give themselves
00:06:50.460 extremely lavish
00:06:51.420 like insane salaries
00:06:52.720 expense everything
00:06:54.520 to the non-profit
00:06:55.940 you know,
00:06:57.460 buy jets
00:06:58.160 and homes
00:06:58.860 and all sorts of things.
00:07:00.160 Live like
00:07:00.760 kings and queens.
00:07:01.480 Yes.
00:07:01.940 On the taxpayer dime.
00:07:03.000 Correct.
00:07:03.720 You mentioned...
00:07:04.820 And this is happening
00:07:05.080 at scale.
00:07:05.860 It's not just one or two.
00:07:07.100 We're seeing this everywhere.
00:07:08.540 Now, one of the things
00:07:09.340 you told me about
00:07:10.140 is what you called
00:07:11.640 magic money computers
00:07:13.780 at the current rate.
00:07:15.440 So tell us about it
00:07:16.500 because I never heard of that
00:07:17.240 until you brought that up.
00:07:18.760 Okay, so
00:07:19.340 you may think
00:07:20.580 that these
00:07:20.920 that the government computers
00:07:22.700 like all talk to each other.
00:07:24.740 They synchronize.
00:07:25.800 They add up
00:07:26.780 what funds are going somewhere
00:07:27.940 and it's
00:07:28.600 you know
00:07:29.820 it's coherent
00:07:31.480 that the
00:07:32.620 you know
00:07:33.100 there's
00:07:33.640 and that
00:07:34.740 and that the numbers
00:07:35.380 for example
00:07:35.820 that you're presented
00:07:36.400 as a senator
00:07:37.080 Yeah.
00:07:37.660 are actually
00:07:38.580 the real numbers.
00:07:39.900 One would think.
00:07:40.860 One would think.
00:07:41.400 They're not.
00:07:42.140 Yeah.
00:07:42.320 Okay.
00:07:44.840 I mean
00:07:45.320 they're not totally wrong
00:07:46.060 but they're probably
00:07:46.720 off by 5%
00:07:47.700 or 10%
00:07:48.320 in some cases.
00:07:50.280 So
00:07:50.680 I call a magic money computer
00:07:52.220 any computer
00:07:52.720 which can just make money
00:07:53.740 out of thin air.
00:07:55.320 That's magic money.
00:07:56.360 So how does that work?
00:07:57.580 It just issues payments.
00:07:59.940 And you said
00:08:00.380 there's something like
00:08:01.000 11 of these computers
00:08:02.400 at Treasury
00:08:02.960 that are sending out
00:08:04.120 trillions in payments?
00:08:05.760 They're mostly at Treasury.
00:08:07.320 Some are
00:08:07.840 with some
00:08:08.580 at HHS
00:08:10.460 some at
00:08:11.360 there's one
00:08:12.000 at one or two at State
00:08:13.200 there's some
00:08:14.500 at DOD.
00:08:16.100 I think we found now
00:08:16.900 14 magic money computers.
00:08:19.840 14, okay.
00:08:20.560 They just send money
00:08:21.580 out of
00:08:22.300 nothing.
00:08:23.760 You have an ability
00:08:24.760 to see
00:08:25.540 where leverage points
00:08:26.920 are
00:08:27.480 and
00:08:28.640 how things
00:08:29.940 actually happen.
00:08:30.900 So I remember back
00:08:31.780 I think it was September
00:08:32.440 or October of this year
00:08:33.580 before the election
00:08:34.760 we didn't know
00:08:35.180 who was going to win
00:08:35.820 and I was at your house
00:08:36.940 in Austin
00:08:37.640 we were talking about it
00:08:38.540 and you said
00:08:39.560 you said
00:08:41.000 look
00:08:41.180 I don't want a job
00:08:42.320 in Washington
00:08:43.120 and you said
00:08:43.660 all I want
00:08:44.200 is the login
00:08:44.700 for every computer.
00:08:46.320 And I remember
00:08:47.060 thinking at the time
00:08:47.840 that sounded kind of weird
00:08:48.820 like I just didn't get it
00:08:50.060 and I have to say
00:08:51.520 what's interesting
00:08:52.640 on this
00:08:53.480 if I would have thought
00:08:56.160 like okay
00:08:56.800 how do you reform government
00:08:58.140 like sort of the traditional
00:08:59.200 way to think about it
00:09:00.080 is okay
00:09:00.440 give me an org chart
00:09:01.340 let me sit down
00:09:02.200 with the people
00:09:02.560 who are running agencies
00:09:03.560 and what you saw
00:09:06.040 immediately
00:09:06.560 is to understand
00:09:07.480 what's really going on
00:09:08.840 get to the payment systems
00:09:10.300 get to the computers
00:09:11.480 yeah
00:09:11.940 like
00:09:12.640 why are
00:09:14.580 why is getting
00:09:15.900 to the computers
00:09:16.740 so critical
00:09:17.460 to understanding
00:09:18.300 what's actually happening?
00:09:20.620 Well the government
00:09:21.020 is run
00:09:21.460 by computers
00:09:22.300 so you've got
00:09:23.700 essentially
00:09:25.260 several hundred computers
00:09:26.720 that effectively
00:09:27.380 run the government
00:09:28.140 and if you want to know
00:09:30.000 did you know that Ben?
00:09:31.160 No
00:09:31.380 like
00:09:31.760 yeah
00:09:32.440 so when somebody
00:09:33.500 like even when the president
00:09:35.020 issues an executive order
00:09:36.040 that's going to go through
00:09:36.840 a whole bunch of people
00:09:37.580 until ultimately
00:09:38.280 it is implemented
00:09:38.940 at a computer somewhere
00:09:39.820 and if you want to know
00:09:41.980 what the situation is
00:09:43.420 with the accounting
00:09:44.540 and you're trying to reconcile
00:09:45.240 accounting
00:09:45.700 and get rid of waste
00:09:46.540 and fraud
00:09:46.880 you must be able
00:09:47.900 to analyze the computer databases
00:09:49.300 otherwise you can't
00:09:50.420 figure it out
00:09:50.880 because all you're doing
00:09:52.640 is asking a human
00:09:53.480 who will then
00:09:54.560 ask another human
00:09:55.940 ask another human
00:09:56.600 and finally
00:09:57.080 usually ask
00:09:57.740 some contractor
00:09:58.780 who will ask another contractor
00:10:00.100 to do a query
00:10:01.040 on the computer
00:10:01.660 wow
00:10:03.020 that's how it actually works
00:10:04.640 so it's many layers deep
00:10:06.300 so the only way
00:10:07.980 to reconcile
00:10:08.420 the databases
00:10:09.100 and get rid of waste
00:10:09.760 and fraud
00:10:10.120 is to
00:10:10.940 to actually look
00:10:12.780 at the computers
00:10:13.200 and see what's going on
00:10:14.680 so you
00:10:15.140 that's what I call
00:10:16.220 that's
00:10:17.100 like
00:10:17.620 that's what I
00:10:18.900 when I sort of
00:10:20.280 cryptically refer to
00:10:21.200 reprogramming the matrix
00:10:22.280 you have to understand
00:10:23.480 what's going on
00:10:23.940 at the computers
00:10:24.340 you have to reconcile
00:10:25.080 the computer databases
00:10:25.960 in order to identify
00:10:27.540 the waste and fraud
00:10:28.160 I don't know
00:10:29.700 that there was
00:10:30.380 anyone
00:10:31.240 in congress
00:10:32.660 who understood
00:10:34.620 certainly myself included
00:10:35.780 who understood
00:10:36.320 the leverage
00:10:37.360 that comes
00:10:38.860 from the computer
00:10:39.860 and the data
00:10:40.740 in particular
00:10:41.520 that congress
00:10:43.000 would think about
00:10:43.780 give me a report
00:10:44.600 on what your expenditures are
00:10:45.900 rather than actually
00:10:47.580 getting into the pipes
00:10:48.720 and I think that
00:10:49.380 has been fascinating
00:10:50.560 that it's let you
00:10:52.020 uncover
00:10:52.780 a bunch of crap
00:10:53.800 that just nobody knew
00:10:55.120 yes
00:10:55.940 I mean in order
00:10:57.360 for money to go
00:10:58.080 to a bank account
00:10:58.860 it's not like
00:11:00.220 we're sending
00:11:00.600 truckloads of cash
00:11:01.540 all over the place
00:11:02.300 it's a
00:11:03.440 we're wiring money
00:11:05.000 right
00:11:05.280 we're sending money
00:11:05.880 through the ACH system
00:11:06.800 or through the SWIFT system
00:11:07.740 so in order for money
00:11:09.220 to flow
00:11:09.620 it's going to flow
00:11:10.240 electronically
00:11:10.720 so that's
00:11:11.860 that's what you need
00:11:12.360 to look at
00:11:12.700 you need to look at
00:11:13.180 the actual
00:11:14.260 electronic money flows
00:11:15.420 and Tesla
00:11:16.140 and all your companies
00:11:16.960 you have accounting
00:11:17.720 and you have
00:11:18.200 every expenditure
00:11:18.960 you have it coded
00:11:19.840 for what it's going
00:11:20.660 for
00:11:21.320 federal government
00:11:22.500 doesn't work that way
00:11:23.200 they don't code
00:11:23.680 what the money's going for
00:11:24.420 they do now
00:11:24.840 but they didn't
00:11:26.180 they didn't
00:11:27.420 and like one of the things
00:11:28.720 that you told me
00:11:29.980 you said if any company
00:11:31.080 kept its books
00:11:32.020 the way the federal
00:11:32.640 government does
00:11:33.520 they'd arrest the officers
00:11:35.200 and put them in jail
00:11:35.920 yes
00:11:36.300 if it was a public company
00:11:37.520 it would be delisted
00:11:38.160 immediately
00:11:38.640 it would fail its audit
00:11:39.700 and the officers
00:11:41.380 of the company
00:11:41.820 would be imprisoned
00:11:42.820 that's the level
00:11:43.860 of
00:11:44.840 malfeasance
00:11:45.360 in the federal government
00:11:46.180 unfortunately
00:11:46.820 it's
00:11:47.480 deliberately
00:11:48.480 or do you think
00:11:49.860 this is
00:11:50.180 incompetence again
00:11:51.120 it's 80%
00:11:52.040 it's 80%
00:11:53.160 incompetence
00:11:54.160 or
00:11:54.460 and 20% malice
00:11:55.840 if you look at
00:11:57.600 Doge now
00:11:58.420 and you look at
00:11:59.280 the government
00:11:59.700 and what you're finding
00:12:00.880 what percentage
00:12:02.440 have you guys
00:12:03.720 even gotten to
00:12:04.560 and how much
00:12:05.140 of it is
00:12:05.600 Mars
00:12:06.500 where you haven't
00:12:07.020 even gotten there yet
00:12:07.640 because there's so much
00:12:08.760 you're finding out here
00:12:10.000 I mean how many
00:12:10.640 you seem like a timeline guy
00:12:12.240 when you say
00:12:12.760 alright I want to get in there
00:12:13.440 and get all these
00:12:13.940 you know
00:12:14.520 numbers and things
00:12:15.700 how far are we
00:12:16.580 from the end game
00:12:17.400 where you've seen it all
00:12:18.980 been able to process it all
00:12:20.700 and fix it
00:12:22.660 I mean are we years away
00:12:23.800 months away
00:12:24.640 not years
00:12:26.320 I mean I'm
00:12:28.000 reasonably confident
00:12:28.660 that we'll be able to
00:12:29.740 get a trillion dollars
00:12:31.300 of waste and fraud
00:12:33.120 out
00:12:33.600 and that
00:12:35.640 meaning that
00:12:36.520 it will have
00:12:37.220 we'll have a net savings
00:12:38.980 in FY26
00:12:40.120 which starts in October
00:12:41.180 obviously
00:12:41.600 of a trillion dollars
00:12:43.900 provided we're allowed
00:12:44.900 to continue
00:12:46.320 and our progress
00:12:47.580 is not impeded
00:12:48.240 and we're very public
00:12:49.620 about what we do
00:12:50.500 yeah
00:12:50.680 you put it on the website
00:12:51.820 it's on the website
00:12:52.540 I don't know how we could
00:12:53.340 be more transparent
00:12:54.200 literally every action
00:12:56.040 we do
00:12:56.400 small or large
00:12:57.200 we put on the
00:12:57.980 doge.gov website
00:12:59.660 and we post on
00:13:01.040 the x handle
00:13:02.020 and when people
00:13:03.660 complain about it
00:13:04.460 and they say
00:13:05.580 oh you're doing
00:13:05.900 something on cost
00:13:06.420 I'm like well
00:13:07.000 which of these
00:13:08.000 cost savings
00:13:08.500 everyone knows
00:13:10.420 exactly what you're
00:13:11.100 doing
00:13:11.320 extreme transparency
00:13:12.540 I don't think
00:13:14.760 anything's been
00:13:15.580 this transparent
00:13:16.120 ever
00:13:16.440 so five years ago
00:13:18.340 you were a hero
00:13:19.780 to the left
00:13:20.500 you were cool
00:13:21.700 you had electric cars
00:13:22.920 you had space
00:13:24.020 and in five years
00:13:25.780 you've gone
00:13:26.360 I could go to a party
00:13:27.420 in Hollywood
00:13:27.800 and not get dirty looks
00:13:28.660 yeah
00:13:29.140 in fact
00:13:29.720 yeah
00:13:30.180 now you might not
00:13:31.680 even get invited
00:13:32.220 still get invited
00:13:33.480 but I don't know
00:13:34.020 if I should go
00:13:34.640 and I don't think
00:13:37.160 it's an exaggeration
00:13:38.200 to say today
00:13:39.140 after Donald Trump
00:13:41.340 the left hates you
00:13:43.360 more than any person
00:13:44.100 on earth
00:13:44.500 yes
00:13:45.340 I appear to be
00:13:46.400 number two
00:13:46.960 I mean
00:13:47.480 if you're judged
00:13:47.940 by the various signs
00:13:49.080 it's derangement
00:13:51.180 it's Trump derangement
00:13:52.680 syndrome
00:13:53.000 and Elon derangement
00:13:54.000 syndrome
00:13:54.300 how is that for you
00:13:55.660 that's a little bit
00:13:56.280 of whiplash
00:13:57.060 of going from being
00:13:58.420 like Mr. Cool
00:14:00.280 to the devil incarnate
00:14:01.780 in just a couple of years
00:14:03.060 is that
00:14:03.440 is that kind of weird
00:14:04.260 to experience
00:14:04.880 that transformation
00:14:05.560 yes
00:14:06.280 why do they hate you
00:14:08.100 so much
00:14:08.580 well
00:14:09.600 because we're
00:14:10.720 we're clearly
00:14:11.760 over the target
00:14:12.420 if those was ineffective
00:14:14.620 if we were not
00:14:15.580 actually getting rid
00:14:16.420 of a bunch
00:14:17.520 of wasting fraud
00:14:18.140 and a bunch
00:14:18.840 of that fraud
00:14:19.360 I mean
00:14:21.500 the fraud
00:14:21.800 we're seeing
00:14:22.400 is overwhelmingly
00:14:23.560 on the left
00:14:25.240 I mean
00:14:26.260 it's not zero
00:14:27.460 on the right
00:14:27.980 but these NGOs
00:14:29.840 are almost all
00:14:30.920 left wing NGOs
00:14:31.960 that are being funded
00:14:32.640 for example
00:14:33.160 yep
00:14:33.460 so
00:14:34.940 they hate me
00:14:36.900 because Doge
00:14:37.700 is being effective
00:14:38.480 and Doge
00:14:40.180 is getting rid
00:14:40.980 of a lot of
00:14:42.000 wasting fraud
00:14:43.040 that they were
00:14:43.520 that people on the left
00:14:44.900 were taking advantage of
00:14:45.900 that's what it comes out of
00:14:47.740 and the single biggest thing
00:14:49.740 that they're
00:14:50.200 that they're worried about
00:14:51.720 is that Doge
00:14:54.880 is going to turn off
00:14:56.340 fraudulent payments
00:14:57.520 of entitlements
00:14:58.520 I mean everything
00:14:59.500 from social security
00:15:00.620 medicare
00:15:01.240 you know
00:15:02.580 unemployment
00:15:03.200 disability
00:15:04.740 small business
00:15:06.120 administration loans
00:15:07.460 turn them off
00:15:08.500 to illegals
00:15:10.020 this is the
00:15:11.860 crux of the matter
00:15:12.560 yep
00:15:13.160 okay this is
00:15:13.860 this is the
00:15:14.540 this is the thing
00:15:15.880 that why they really
00:15:17.100 hit my guts
00:15:17.540 and want me to die
00:15:18.120 and do you think
00:15:20.000 that's billions
00:15:20.740 hundreds of billions
00:15:21.880 what do you think
00:15:22.280 the scale is of that
00:15:23.340 I think
00:15:24.140 across the country
00:15:25.040 it's in
00:15:25.640 it's well worth
00:15:26.420 of 100 billion
00:15:27.000 maybe 200 billion
00:15:28.160 so
00:15:29.960 by
00:15:32.380 by using
00:15:33.200 entitlements fraud
00:15:34.160 the Democrats
00:15:35.080 have been able to
00:15:36.000 attract
00:15:36.920 and retain
00:15:38.120 vast numbers
00:15:39.380 of
00:15:40.040 illegal immigrants
00:15:41.140 and
00:15:41.880 and by voters
00:15:42.700 and
00:15:43.240 and by
00:15:44.120 voters
00:15:44.780 exactly
00:15:45.280 the
00:15:45.820 basically
00:15:46.860 bring in
00:15:47.900 I don't know
00:15:48.880 10-20 million
00:15:49.740 people
00:15:50.820 who are beholden
00:15:52.160 to the Democrats
00:15:52.980 for government
00:15:54.020 handouts
00:15:54.500 and will vote
00:15:56.000 overwhelmingly Democrat
00:15:57.080 as has been
00:15:58.060 demonstrated in
00:15:58.620 California
00:15:59.000 this is
00:16:00.000 it's an election
00:16:01.560 strategy
00:16:02.000 yes
00:16:02.720 it's power
00:16:03.280 yes
00:16:03.860 and and it
00:16:04.660 doesn't take much
00:16:05.340 to turn the swing
00:16:06.020 states blue
00:16:06.640 I mean often
00:16:07.500 a swing state
00:16:08.080 might be won
00:16:08.720 by 10-20 thousand
00:16:09.860 votes
00:16:10.220 sure
00:16:10.460 so if the Dems
00:16:11.620 can bring in
00:16:12.140 200,000
00:16:13.140 illegals
00:16:13.800 and over time
00:16:14.560 get them
00:16:15.260 legalized
00:16:16.200 not counting
00:16:17.320 any cheating
00:16:17.780 that takes place
00:16:18.380 because there is
00:16:18.820 some cheating
00:16:19.260 but even without
00:16:20.560 cheating
00:16:20.960 if you
00:16:21.980 if you
00:16:22.280 if you
00:16:23.420 bring in
00:16:24.040 illegals
00:16:24.360 that are
00:16:24.640 10x
00:16:25.020 the voter
00:16:25.760 differential
00:16:26.220 in a swing
00:16:27.020 state
00:16:27.300 it will no
00:16:28.140 longer be
00:16:28.540 a swing
00:16:28.820 state
00:16:29.080 right
00:16:29.320 and the
00:16:30.780 Dems will
00:16:31.460 win all
00:16:31.900 the swing
00:16:32.180 states
00:16:32.520 just a matter
00:16:33.000 of time
00:16:33.380 and
00:16:35.220 America
00:16:35.880 will be
00:16:36.260 permanent
00:16:37.020 deep blue
00:16:38.000 socialist
00:16:38.340 state
00:16:38.820 the House
00:16:41.060 the Senate
00:16:41.700 yep
00:16:42.080 the presidency
00:16:43.400 and the
00:16:43.940 Supreme Court
00:16:44.340 will all go
00:16:45.160 hardcore Dem
00:16:46.040 they will
00:16:46.900 then further
00:16:47.260 cement that
00:16:47.900 by bringing
00:16:49.340 in even
00:16:49.780 more aliens
00:16:50.520 so you
00:16:50.840 can't vote
00:16:51.860 your way
00:16:52.140 out of it
00:16:53.600 their objective
00:16:54.740 is to make
00:16:55.240 it permanent
00:16:55.540 one party
00:16:55.860 socialist state
00:16:56.600 and it'll be
00:16:57.360 much worse
00:16:57.760 than California
00:16:58.240 because at least
00:16:58.720 California is
00:16:59.240 mitigated by
00:16:59.900 the fact that
00:17:00.580 someone can
00:17:00.920 leave California
00:17:01.400 you can go
00:17:01.820 to Texas
00:17:02.200 yeah
00:17:02.640 exactly
00:17:03.240 but they're
00:17:04.640 going to make
00:17:04.900 everywhere
00:17:05.500 California a bit
00:17:06.340 worse
00:17:06.600 by the way
00:17:07.040 the middle
00:17:07.360 of the pandemic
00:17:08.000 I spent
00:17:08.960 45 minutes
00:17:09.720 on the phone
00:17:10.240 with Elon
00:17:10.660 he was still
00:17:11.440 in California
00:17:12.060 I was walking
00:17:13.140 my dog
00:17:13.620 Snowflake
00:17:14.260 and trying
00:17:15.240 to convince
00:17:15.740 you
00:17:15.880 come to
00:17:16.360 Texas
00:17:16.840 the commies
00:17:17.780 in California
00:17:18.420 can't stand
00:17:19.120 you
00:17:19.360 we love
00:17:20.300 you
00:17:20.440 we want
00:17:20.900 you here
00:17:21.260 and you
00:17:21.720 didn't quite
00:17:22.160 go then
00:17:22.560 but you
00:17:22.820 went not
00:17:23.180 that long
00:17:23.720 afterwards
00:17:24.320 I mean
00:17:25.140 the COVID
00:17:26.040 actions
00:17:26.500 almost killed
00:17:28.020 Tesla
00:17:28.340 because
00:17:29.440 every other
00:17:31.120 auto plant
00:17:31.640 in the country
00:17:32.120 was allowed
00:17:32.460 to open
00:17:32.840 but ours
00:17:33.780 which was
00:17:34.640 in California
00:17:35.240 was not
00:17:35.800 allowed to open
00:17:36.280 wow
00:17:36.560 so
00:17:38.320 they almost
00:17:38.800 killed
00:17:39.020 Tesla
00:17:39.320 so
00:17:40.220 as a
00:17:41.100 personal
00:17:41.880 matter
00:17:42.400 do you
00:17:43.800 ever
00:17:43.960 regret it
00:17:44.480 like
00:17:44.680 five years
00:17:45.280 ago
00:17:45.560 you go
00:17:45.860 to the Oscars
00:17:46.440 and we're
00:17:46.720 Mr. Cool
00:17:47.360 and now
00:17:48.020 you've got
00:17:48.940 death threats
00:17:49.500 every day
00:17:49.960 well these days
00:17:51.240 the Oscars
00:17:51.620 are boring
00:17:52.080 I wouldn't
00:17:54.240 want to go
00:17:54.560 God bless
00:17:55.200 the movies
00:17:55.600 they nominate
00:17:56.140 no one on
00:17:56.560 earth has
00:17:56.840 ever seen
00:17:57.360 could they
00:17:58.160 actually
00:17:58.480 nominate
00:17:58.880 a movie
00:17:59.180 that human
00:17:59.640 beings
00:17:59.940 go watch
00:18:00.540 I mean
00:18:01.340 how many
00:18:02.260 great movies
00:18:02.820 have come
00:18:03.560 out in the
00:18:03.940 last several
00:18:04.400 years
00:18:04.680 very few
00:18:05.600 depressingly
00:18:06.200 few
00:18:06.480 yeah
00:18:06.900 very few
00:18:07.500 last Oscars
00:18:08.540 came and
00:18:08.920 went
00:18:09.080 I didn't
00:18:09.320 watch it
00:18:09.740 there's
00:18:10.080 nothing
00:18:10.300 to see
00:18:10.640 I was
00:18:11.680 sad that
00:18:12.640 Gene Hackman
00:18:13.180 just passed
00:18:13.700 away
00:18:13.940 because
00:18:14.120 Unforgiven
00:18:14.640 was spectacular
00:18:15.600 but that was
00:18:15.980 a long time
00:18:16.400 ago
00:18:16.580 that Unforgiven
00:18:17.060 came out
00:18:17.600 you've mentioned
00:18:18.700 today here
00:18:20.360 and before
00:18:21.460 about the
00:18:22.260 possibility of
00:18:23.140 someone wanting
00:18:24.020 to take you
00:18:24.480 out
00:18:24.740 dealing with
00:18:25.660 the death
00:18:25.960 threats
00:18:26.380 we see
00:18:27.560 it's not in
00:18:28.140 my imagination
00:18:28.780 you can just
00:18:29.220 look on social
00:18:29.720 media
00:18:29.960 yeah
00:18:30.660 but like
00:18:31.100 is it
00:18:32.560 because
00:18:32.840 yeah
00:18:33.880 and look
00:18:34.240 I'm very
00:18:35.000 familiar with
00:18:35.540 and they've
00:18:35.880 got signs
00:18:36.340 there are
00:18:36.540 people with
00:18:36.920 signs and
00:18:37.480 demonstrations
00:18:37.980 saying that
00:18:39.520 I need to
00:18:39.800 die
00:18:39.980 do you
00:18:41.360 think
00:18:41.800 are these
00:18:43.100 just whack
00:18:43.800 jobs or do
00:18:44.600 you think
00:18:45.020 there are
00:18:45.620 foreign
00:18:46.940 sane people
00:18:47.840 do you think
00:18:48.880 there are
00:18:49.260 foreign entities
00:18:49.860 behind this
00:18:50.580 do you think
00:18:50.940 there are
00:18:51.140 domestic entities
00:18:51.840 behind the
00:18:52.520 threats and
00:18:53.200 also the
00:18:53.580 attacks to
00:18:54.160 Twitter
00:18:54.440 not Twitter
00:18:55.960 Tesla
00:18:56.920 I mean
00:18:57.600 you're
00:18:57.940 getting
00:18:58.260 Tesla's
00:19:00.020 charging
00:19:00.320 stations
00:19:00.780 lit on
00:19:01.120 fire
00:19:01.460 do you
00:19:01.780 think
00:19:02.260 that's
00:19:02.620 organized
00:19:03.000 and
00:19:03.440 paid
00:19:03.680 for
00:19:04.020 yes
00:19:05.140 at least
00:19:05.740 some of it
00:19:06.100 is organized
00:19:06.520 and paid
00:19:06.800 for
00:19:07.120 I think
00:19:08.600 by domestic
00:19:09.240 you know
00:19:11.440 basically
00:19:13.500 left-wing
00:19:14.200 organizations
00:19:14.700 in America
00:19:15.180 funded by
00:19:17.000 left-wing
00:19:19.280 billionaires
00:19:20.580 essentially
00:19:20.960 is it like
00:19:21.380 act blue
00:19:22.020 or what
00:19:22.600 act blue
00:19:23.260 is one of
00:19:23.600 them
00:19:24.400 you know
00:19:26.140 arabella
00:19:27.320 you know
00:19:27.660 the classic
00:19:28.080 it's funded
00:19:28.860 by the
00:19:29.380 you know
00:19:30.400 the blue
00:19:31.640 basically
00:19:32.520 the left-wing
00:19:33.680 NGO
00:19:34.620 cabal
00:19:35.640 how big of a
00:19:36.780 thread is this to
00:19:37.360 like what you
00:19:38.380 build at Tesla
00:19:39.000 I mean I
00:19:39.380 remember when
00:19:40.000 Tesla's came out
00:19:40.760 it was people
00:19:41.340 that they
00:19:42.220 didn't want to
00:19:42.540 have gas cars
00:19:43.560 a lot of it
00:19:44.340 was environmental
00:19:44.840 reasons
00:19:45.440 I jokingly said
00:19:46.660 I was like
00:19:46.940 I'm a Texas
00:19:47.900 guy I'm always
00:19:48.400 going to have
00:19:48.700 something that
00:19:48.960 burns gas
00:19:49.560 my kids
00:19:51.060 now
00:19:51.460 all three
00:19:51.960 of my boys
00:19:52.520 think that
00:19:53.440 the Tesla's
00:19:54.800 are awesome
00:19:55.540 the cyber truck
00:19:56.460 is the car
00:19:57.200 they want
00:19:57.620 their dad
00:19:58.100 to buy
00:19:58.420 which I
00:19:59.080 laugh
00:19:59.460 because I
00:19:59.860 never could
00:20:00.220 have imagined
00:20:00.620 that five
00:20:01.700 years ago
00:20:02.360 and now
00:20:03.160 I'm looking
00:20:03.640 at
00:20:03.880 we're at
00:20:04.320 the White
00:20:04.640 House
00:20:04.840 and the
00:20:05.120 President's
00:20:05.560 Tesla's
00:20:05.960 parked
00:20:06.180 right outside
00:20:06.640 the West
00:20:07.000 Wing
00:20:07.200 which is
00:20:07.560 the fullest
00:20:07.960 damn thing
00:20:08.480 you've
00:20:09.120 changed a
00:20:09.520 generation
00:20:09.960 when you
00:20:10.360 look at
00:20:10.700 my kids
00:20:11.120 are six
00:20:11.560 and eight
00:20:11.880 and they're
00:20:12.100 going dad
00:20:12.520 buy a
00:20:13.180 cyber truck
00:20:14.140 and I'm
00:20:15.020 considering it
00:20:15.920 that's a
00:20:16.440 that's a
00:20:17.040 full circle
00:20:17.840 in a weird
00:20:18.460 way
00:20:18.800 yeah
00:20:19.560 well I do
00:20:20.180 have this
00:20:20.420 theory that
00:20:20.760 the most
00:20:21.040 entertaining
00:20:21.380 outcome
00:20:21.740 is the
00:20:21.980 most likely
00:20:22.380 so
00:20:23.260 yeah
00:20:24.900 it seems
00:20:25.640 often to be
00:20:26.140 true
00:20:26.940 what twist
00:20:29.200 or turn
00:20:29.540 of fate
00:20:29.920 would generate
00:20:32.060 the highest
00:20:32.440 ratings
00:20:32.800 if we were
00:20:33.740 a TV show
00:20:34.360 what twist
00:20:35.760 or turn
00:20:36.020 of fate
00:20:36.280 would generate
00:20:36.680 the highest
00:20:36.980 ratings
00:20:37.280 there's a good
00:20:38.300 chance that
00:20:38.620 happens
00:20:38.940 well I will
00:20:39.760 say if
00:20:40.400 ActBlue
00:20:41.740 and Arabella
00:20:43.200 Network
00:20:43.540 ActBlue is a
00:20:44.060 huge scam
00:20:44.560 next level
00:20:45.100 do you think
00:20:45.640 it's foreign
00:20:46.240 money
00:20:46.480 Chinese money
00:20:47.200 where do you
00:20:47.700 think the
00:20:48.060 money in
00:20:48.440 ActBlue
00:20:48.740 is coming
00:20:49.140 from
00:20:49.340 how do you
00:20:49.660 figure that
00:20:50.080 out
00:20:50.400 well it's not
00:20:51.360 coming from
00:20:51.800 a whole bunch
00:20:53.100 of from a
00:20:54.140 groundswell of
00:20:55.200 public support
00:20:55.980 because when
00:20:57.440 individual donors
00:20:58.860 are looked at
00:20:59.320 in ActBlue
00:20:59.940 they eventually
00:21:00.900 turn out to be
00:21:01.600 like diehard
00:21:02.620 Republicans
00:21:03.040 people have
00:21:03.900 never given
00:21:04.240 money in their
00:21:04.680 life
00:21:04.920 so you're
00:21:05.780 going to track
00:21:06.060 down a bunch
00:21:06.460 of these
00:21:06.720 people where
00:21:07.460 it says oh I
00:21:07.960 gave $16,000
00:21:08.900 and they're like
00:21:09.720 I didn't give
00:21:10.260 $16,000
00:21:10.920 what are you
00:21:11.200 talking about
00:21:12.100 Republican
00:21:14.520 friends of
00:21:15.000 mine
00:21:15.180 found themselves
00:21:16.040 on the
00:21:16.320 ActBlue
00:21:16.640 list
00:21:16.920 they're like
00:21:17.320 it doesn't
00:21:17.820 want me
00:21:18.320 so that's
00:21:19.560 if it can
00:21:20.120 actually be
00:21:21.200 shown that
00:21:21.800 they are
00:21:22.060 funding fire
00:21:22.960 bombing of
00:21:23.580 Tesla charging
00:21:24.540 stations
00:21:25.080 that's objectively
00:21:26.660 a criminal act
00:21:27.400 that is funding
00:21:28.380 terrorist activity
00:21:29.260 and the statutes
00:21:30.360 make clear that
00:21:31.160 an incendiary
00:21:31.780 device
00:21:32.320 qualifies
00:21:33.400 so that's
00:21:33.920 things down
00:21:34.360 is a terrorist
00:21:35.160 activity
00:21:35.600 let me ask
00:21:37.120 AI
00:21:38.180 in 10 years
00:21:39.860 how is life
00:21:41.120 going to be
00:21:41.500 different because
00:21:42.180 of AI
00:21:42.600 for just a
00:21:43.740 normal person
00:21:44.480 well 10 years
00:21:45.920 is a long
00:21:46.220 time
00:21:46.580 in 10 years
00:21:47.660 probably AI
00:21:48.380 could do
00:21:48.960 anything better
00:21:50.040 than a human
00:21:50.460 can
00:21:50.800 cognitively
00:21:51.800 probably almost
00:21:52.880 I think
00:21:53.680 in 10 years
00:21:54.860 based on the
00:21:55.600 current rate of
00:21:56.060 improvement
00:21:56.500 AI will be
00:21:57.840 smarter than
00:21:58.400 the smartest
00:21:58.760 human
00:21:59.060 there will also
00:22:01.580 be a massive
00:22:02.920 number of
00:22:03.320 robots
00:22:03.780 so humanoid
00:22:05.280 robots
00:22:05.780 by the way
00:22:06.680 I gotta ask
00:22:07.200 how come
00:22:07.560 your robots
00:22:08.100 look so much
00:22:08.760 like the
00:22:09.080 creepy robots
00:22:09.740 for my robot
00:22:10.440 was that
00:22:11.400 intentional
00:22:11.880 or just
00:22:12.480 I was hoping
00:22:14.780 he was gonna
00:22:15.060 say yeah
00:22:15.480 just to mess
00:22:16.040 with you
00:22:16.500 it's not meant
00:22:18.580 to look like
00:22:18.980 any prior
00:22:20.760 robot
00:22:21.180 and we'll
00:22:22.300 iterate the
00:22:22.740 design
00:22:23.160 you'll be able
00:22:25.300 to have
00:22:26.000 a lot of
00:22:26.860 the robot
00:22:27.380 parts are
00:22:27.880 cosmetic
00:22:28.200 you'll be
00:22:28.660 able to
00:22:29.100 switch out
00:22:30.000 the kind
00:22:30.980 of snap
00:22:31.320 on cosmetic
00:22:32.140 parts
00:22:32.500 of the robot
00:22:32.920 make it
00:22:33.320 look like
00:22:33.580 something
00:22:33.900 else
00:22:34.120 if you'd
00:22:34.340 like
00:22:34.540 so
00:22:36.280 there'll
00:22:37.320 be
00:22:37.600 ultimately
00:22:38.640 billions
00:22:39.060 of
00:22:39.340 humanoid
00:22:39.680 robots
00:22:40.180 all cars
00:22:41.380 will be
00:22:41.620 self-driving
00:22:42.240 in 10
00:22:43.360 years
00:22:43.660 probably
00:22:45.260 90%
00:22:46.740 of miles
00:22:47.160 driven
00:22:47.420 will be
00:22:47.920 autonomous
00:22:48.660 autonomous
00:22:48.940 huh
00:22:49.200 wow
00:22:49.860 that fast
00:22:50.520 yeah
00:22:51.280 in five
00:22:52.240 years
00:22:52.580 probably
00:22:53.420 50%
00:22:54.440 of miles
00:22:54.980 driven
00:22:55.680 will be
00:22:55.960 autonomous
00:22:56.340 now if
00:22:56.760 AI will
00:22:57.380 be smarter
00:22:57.860 than any
00:22:58.360 person
00:22:58.820 how many
00:22:59.600 jobs
00:23:00.180 go away
00:23:01.180 because of
00:23:02.180 that
00:23:02.580 and what
00:23:03.620 do people
00:23:04.060 do if
00:23:04.620 you've got
00:23:05.020 millions of
00:23:05.460 people that are
00:23:05.840 losing their
00:23:06.280 jobs
00:23:06.600 like that
00:23:07.000 a lot of
00:23:07.640 people are
00:23:08.120 understandably
00:23:08.960 freaked out
00:23:09.380 about that
00:23:09.920 well
00:23:10.480 goods and
00:23:12.420 services
00:23:12.800 will become
00:23:13.640 close to
00:23:15.340 free
00:23:15.620 so
00:23:16.460 it's not
00:23:17.320 as though
00:23:17.500 people will
00:23:17.980 be wanting
00:23:18.420 in terms
00:23:18.760 of goods
00:23:19.020 and services
00:23:19.580 so why
00:23:21.320 is that
00:23:21.640 why are
00:23:22.540 goods and
00:23:22.860 services
00:23:23.180 free in
00:23:23.920 an AI
00:23:24.220 world
00:23:24.620 or close
00:23:25.560 to free
00:23:25.860 well you
00:23:26.720 have
00:23:27.120 tens of
00:23:29.380 billions
00:23:29.580 of robots
00:23:30.200 they will
00:23:32.640 make you
00:23:33.460 anything
00:23:33.780 or provide
00:23:34.380 any service
00:23:34.960 you want
00:23:35.360 for basically
00:23:37.620 next to
00:23:38.000 nothing
00:23:38.260 it's not
00:23:40.860 that people
00:23:41.220 will be
00:23:41.760 will have
00:23:43.080 a lower
00:23:43.320 standard of
00:23:43.700 living
00:23:43.840 they will
00:23:44.040 have
00:23:44.200 actually
00:23:44.420 a much
00:23:44.640 higher
00:23:44.860 standard
00:23:45.160 of living
00:23:45.580 but the
00:23:46.660 challenge
00:23:46.960 will be
00:23:47.980 fulfillment
00:23:49.620 how do
00:23:50.080 you derive
00:23:51.140 fulfillment
00:23:51.620 and meaning
00:23:52.100 in life
00:23:52.520 is Skynet
00:23:53.860 real
00:23:55.140 like you
00:23:56.060 get the
00:23:56.560 apocalyptic
00:23:57.120 visions
00:23:57.900 of AI
00:23:58.400 how real
00:24:00.040 is the
00:24:00.440 prospect
00:24:00.880 of killer
00:24:02.200 robots
00:24:02.760 annihilating
00:24:03.600 humanity
00:24:04.100 20%
00:24:05.300 likely
00:24:05.740 maybe 10%
00:24:07.160 on what
00:24:08.060 time frame
00:24:08.600 5 to 10
00:24:09.640 years
00:24:09.920 so soon
00:24:11.280 like you
00:24:11.940 you see a
00:24:12.880 world where
00:24:13.360 that's possible
00:24:14.220 yeah
00:24:15.300 but I mean
00:24:15.940 you can look
00:24:16.220 at it like
00:24:16.600 the glass
00:24:17.260 is 80-90%
00:24:18.900 full
00:24:19.180 meaning like
00:24:20.400 80% likely
00:24:21.760 will have
00:24:22.920 extreme
00:24:23.920 prosperity
00:24:24.440 for all
00:24:24.980 now I guess
00:24:25.920 my view
00:24:26.400 we're in a
00:24:26.860 race
00:24:27.260 to win
00:24:28.520 AI
00:24:28.800 we're in a
00:24:29.360 race with
00:24:29.880 China
00:24:30.300 and my
00:24:31.300 view is
00:24:31.780 if they're
00:24:32.040 going to be
00:24:32.320 killer robots
00:24:32.940 I'd rather
00:24:33.300 they be
00:24:33.580 American
00:24:33.900 killer robots
00:24:34.520 than Chinese
00:24:35.100 how likely
00:24:37.360 are we
00:24:38.480 winning right
00:24:39.040 now
00:24:39.240 is America
00:24:39.660 winning right
00:24:40.220 now
00:24:40.420 and how
00:24:40.740 likely is
00:24:41.360 America to
00:24:41.860 win the
00:24:42.120 race for
00:24:42.800 AI
00:24:43.280 vis-a-vis
00:24:43.880 China or
00:24:44.400 anyone else
00:24:44.920 for the
00:24:45.620 next few
00:24:46.000 years I
00:24:46.400 think America
00:24:47.140 is likely
00:24:47.540 to win
00:24:47.880 then it
00:24:48.940 will be
00:24:49.380 a function
00:24:50.160 of who
00:24:50.520 controls
00:24:50.960 the AI
00:24:51.500 chip
00:24:51.780 fabrication
00:24:53.980 the factories
00:24:55.320 that make
00:24:55.640 the AI
00:24:55.980 chips
00:24:56.220 who controls
00:24:56.720 them
00:24:56.940 if they are
00:24:57.980 controlled
00:24:58.360 if more of
00:24:59.480 them are
00:24:59.660 controlled by
00:25:00.080 China
00:25:00.340 then China
00:25:00.820 will win
00:25:01.200 more of the
00:25:02.320 factories
00:25:02.860 that are
00:25:03.260 making the
00:25:03.720 AI chips
00:25:04.420 you think
00:25:04.940 that will
00:25:05.320 determine it
00:25:05.920 yes
00:25:06.540 and how
00:25:07.340 are we
00:25:07.600 doing
00:25:07.840 versus
00:25:08.380 China
00:25:08.700 on that
00:25:09.000 front
00:25:09.280 well right
00:25:10.260 now
00:25:10.600 almost all
00:25:12.500 the advanced
00:25:12.940 AI chip
00:25:13.740 factories
00:25:15.600 they call
00:25:15.940 them
00:25:16.120 fabs
00:25:17.240 are in
00:25:18.680 Taiwan
00:25:19.100 and what
00:25:19.620 if China
00:25:19.980 invades
00:25:20.300 Taiwan
00:25:20.680 what happens
00:25:22.700 if China
00:25:23.820 invades
00:25:24.240 Taiwan
00:25:24.600 what happens
00:25:25.660 to the
00:25:26.520 world
00:25:26.800 well if
00:25:27.480 they were
00:25:27.740 to invade
00:25:28.480 in the
00:25:28.860 near term
00:25:29.340 the world
00:25:31.100 would be
00:25:31.400 cut off
00:25:31.720 from
00:25:32.100 advanced
00:25:32.840 AI chips
00:25:33.380 and
00:25:34.080 currently
00:25:34.640 100%
00:25:35.540 of
00:25:35.860 advanced
00:25:36.260 AI chips
00:25:36.740 are made
00:25:37.100 in Taiwan
00:25:37.500 how fast
00:25:38.460 can we
00:25:38.740 put that
00:25:39.040 online
00:25:39.280 in America
00:25:39.620 and how
00:25:39.900 important
00:25:40.200 is that
00:25:40.420 for national
00:25:40.860 security
00:25:41.300 I think
00:25:42.200 it's essential
00:25:42.620 for national
00:25:43.040 security
00:25:43.460 and we're
00:25:44.820 not doing
00:25:45.120 enough
00:25:45.400 you're 53
00:25:46.400 years old
00:25:47.100 I'm 118
00:25:48.380 days older
00:25:49.020 than you
00:25:49.300 by the way
00:25:49.760 what the hell
00:25:50.260 have I done
00:25:50.640 in my life
00:25:51.180 I know right
00:25:51.760 53 years
00:25:53.140 old
00:25:53.520 you did pretty
00:25:53.840 well
00:25:54.160 well
00:25:56.200 so 71
00:25:57.540 was a great
00:25:58.020 year
00:25:58.260 and I was
00:25:59.360 December 70
00:26:00.060 so I was
00:26:00.440 just right
00:26:01.640 before
00:26:02.060 you were
00:26:02.780 the summer
00:26:03.140 of 71
00:26:03.800 I was born
00:26:05.700 69 days
00:26:06.380 after 420
00:26:07.140 wow
00:26:07.920 I did
00:26:09.480 ask Ben
00:26:10.100 this is true
00:26:11.100 look
00:26:11.400 you just
00:26:13.000 open up
00:26:13.320 the can of
00:26:13.720 words
00:26:13.940 I did
00:26:14.480 ask Ben
00:26:15.080 should I
00:26:15.440 show up
00:26:15.780 and pull
00:26:16.060 up a joint
00:26:16.580 and say
00:26:16.980 can we
00:26:17.680 beat
00:26:17.940 Rogan's
00:26:18.360 views
00:26:18.660 but I
00:26:19.160 was pretty
00:26:19.560 sure
00:26:19.960 it might
00:26:21.420 cause a
00:26:21.820 scandal
00:26:22.120 if we
00:26:22.660 spent
00:26:22.840 pot
00:26:23.060 in the
00:26:23.320 White House
00:26:23.700 it just
00:26:24.700 turned out
00:26:24.980 to be
00:26:25.120 like a
00:26:25.360 chocolate
00:26:25.620 cigar
00:26:25.940 yeah
00:26:26.660 let me
00:26:29.560 ask you
00:26:30.060 if today
00:26:30.820 was your
00:26:31.200 last day
00:26:31.620 on Earth
00:26:32.020 yeah
00:26:32.520 what
00:26:33.080 I'm not
00:26:34.080 suggesting
00:26:34.500 it's going
00:26:34.940 to be
00:26:35.140 but if it
00:26:35.540 were
00:26:35.740 what do you
00:26:36.040 think your
00:26:36.260 biggest legacy
00:26:36.760 would be
00:26:37.060 if everything
00:26:37.380 you've done
00:26:38.080 100 years
00:26:39.620 from now
00:26:39.980 what do you
00:26:40.280 think people
00:26:40.860 would remember
00:26:41.660 if it were
00:26:43.580 zero to today
00:26:44.660 and were you
00:26:45.220 ever going to
00:26:45.680 space
00:26:46.120 in the
00:26:47.460 distant future
00:26:49.020 100 or
00:26:49.840 1000 years
00:26:50.320 ago
00:26:50.620 if SpaceX
00:26:52.020 got humans
00:26:52.840 to Mars
00:26:53.260 that's what
00:26:53.840 they would
00:26:54.580 remember me
00:26:55.080 for
00:26:55.240 all right
00:26:56.200 final set
00:26:56.840 of questions
00:26:57.380 who's the
00:26:58.120 smartest guy
00:26:58.680 you've ever
00:26:59.020 met
00:26:59.260 you hang out
00:27:00.200 with some
00:27:00.500 brilliant people
00:27:01.100 like like
00:27:01.580 when you
00:27:02.120 look what's
00:27:02.800 a CEO
00:27:03.280 you look at
00:27:04.140 other than
00:27:04.640 yourself
00:27:05.160 what CEO
00:27:06.120 do you say
00:27:06.840 damn
00:27:08.220 that guy's
00:27:08.740 good
00:27:08.980 Larry Ellison
00:27:10.000 is very
00:27:10.280 smart
00:27:10.580 so I'll say
00:27:12.980 Larry Ellison
00:27:13.480 is one of the
00:27:14.520 smartest people
00:27:15.180 you know
00:27:17.420 Larry Page
00:27:18.220 I mean there
00:27:19.040 are a lot of
00:27:19.260 people that
00:27:19.560 are very smart
00:27:19.980 it's hard to
00:27:20.340 say like
00:27:20.700 you know
00:27:21.760 I think
00:27:22.160 to some degree
00:27:22.660 smart is
00:27:23.200 as smart
00:27:23.540 does
00:27:23.900 so
00:27:24.820 you know
00:27:25.760 what have
00:27:25.980 they done
00:27:26.660 that is
00:27:27.180 difficult
00:27:28.460 and significant
00:27:30.720 you know
00:27:33.060 Jeff Bezos
00:27:33.680 has done
00:27:35.020 a lot of
00:27:35.320 difficult
00:27:35.560 and significant
00:27:36.080 things
00:27:36.620 I mean
00:27:38.740 there are a lot
00:27:39.020 of smart
00:27:39.300 humans
00:27:39.660 I call them
00:27:40.660 smart for
00:27:41.100 a human
00:27:42.120 a lot of
00:27:42.780 people who
00:27:43.100 are in the
00:27:43.480 smart for
00:27:43.840 a human
00:27:44.080 category
00:27:44.600 all right
00:27:45.560 final lightning
00:27:46.260 round
00:27:46.660 Star Wars
00:27:47.840 or Star Trek
00:27:48.420 the first movie
00:27:49.640 I saw in the
00:27:50.100 theater was
00:27:50.500 Star Wars
00:27:51.020 so I think
00:27:51.740 it had a
00:27:52.060 profound
00:27:52.300 effect on me
00:27:52.920 I was six
00:27:53.780 years old
00:27:54.120 I think
00:27:54.740 imagine if
00:27:55.540 the first movie
00:27:56.680 you ever see
00:27:57.380 in a theater
00:27:59.040 is Star Wars
00:27:59.760 that's going to
00:28:00.140 blow your mind
00:28:00.600 best Star Wars
00:28:01.360 movie
00:28:01.700 Empire Strikes Back
00:28:04.160 the only objectively
00:28:05.620 right answer
00:28:06.240 I stood in line
00:28:06.940 for three hours
00:28:07.620 with my dad
00:28:08.200 to see it
00:28:08.580 on opening day
00:28:09.340 Kirk or Picard
00:28:10.840 I like them both
00:28:13.160 but Kirk
00:28:13.600 again objectively
00:28:15.320 right answer
00:28:16.060 by the way
00:28:17.020 James T. Kirk
00:28:18.260 is a Republican
00:28:19.660 and Picard
00:28:20.220 is a Democrat
00:28:20.820 and the left
00:28:21.640 gets very mad
00:28:22.400 when I say
00:28:23.100 that
00:28:23.420 best Star Trek
00:28:25.260 movie
00:28:25.580 I mean
00:28:26.600 the first
00:28:27.420 Star Trek movie
00:28:27.980 maybe
00:28:28.320 that's
00:28:29.400 in
00:28:29.580 Wrath of Khan
00:28:30.440 Wrath of Khan
00:28:32.580 actually
00:28:33.480 both Wrath of Khan
00:28:35.520 were pretty good
00:28:36.180 but yeah
00:28:36.900 the original
00:28:37.240 Wrath of Khan
00:28:37.840 Ricardo Montalban
00:28:39.560 revenge is a dish
00:28:41.460 best served cold
00:28:43.040 it is very cold
00:28:44.540 in space
00:28:45.440 although I will say
00:28:46.820 Wrath of Khan
00:28:48.200 is objectively
00:28:48.760 the right answer
00:28:49.540 but four is a sleeper
00:28:51.140 when they go back
00:28:51.780 to San Francisco
00:28:52.620 and go find the whales
00:28:54.960 and you know
00:28:55.980 Scotty picks up
00:28:56.860 picks up the mouth
00:28:58.620 and talks to it
00:28:59.280 then goes
00:28:59.580 a keyboard
00:29:00.240 how quaint
00:29:01.300 that's a sleeper
00:29:03.100 alright
00:29:03.340 last question
00:29:04.200 did Han shoot first
00:29:05.900 it seemed like
00:29:08.380 he shot second
00:29:09.060 this is verdict
00:29:10.260 and by the way
00:29:11.140 I apologize Ben
00:29:12.280 so Ben was a jock
00:29:13.400 and played tennis
00:29:14.100 at Ole Miss
00:29:14.760 and so
00:29:15.240 so occasionally
00:29:16.040 when we geek out
00:29:17.300 I love watching
00:29:18.400 y'all geek out
00:29:19.040 over there
00:29:19.440 he's still on
00:29:21.640 the question
00:29:21.960 I love it
00:29:22.520 he missed his
00:29:23.080 the alien missed
00:29:23.980 his basal shot
00:29:24.720 so why did he miss
00:29:25.700 his basal shot
00:29:26.320 must have been
00:29:26.800 because he got
00:29:27.360 shot first
00:29:28.280 now he's missing
00:29:29.240 a point blank
00:29:29.760 basal shot
00:29:30.420 unless they get
00:29:31.320 knocked or killed
00:29:32.360 but it's a question
00:29:33.120 of real consequence
00:29:33.920 which is
00:29:35.820 is Han Solo
00:29:36.740 simply a hero
00:29:37.740 or an anti-hero
00:29:38.660 and so I'm in
00:29:39.940 the Han shot first
00:29:40.760 category
00:29:41.320 I don't like
00:29:42.740 sanitized stories
00:29:43.480 he would have
00:29:44.020 had to have shot first
00:29:44.860 because otherwise
00:29:45.320 why would the alien
00:29:46.380 miss a point blank
00:29:47.600 range
00:29:47.980 are you ever
00:29:49.240 going to go to
00:29:49.800 outer space
00:29:50.340 is that thing
00:29:50.860 in your life goals
00:29:51.580 yeah I'd like to
00:29:52.540 go to Mars
00:29:52.900 at some point
00:29:53.360 and people have
00:29:54.240 said do I want
00:29:55.820 to die on Mars
00:29:56.400 and I say yes
00:29:57.980 just not on impact
00:29:58.760 now that's a very
00:29:59.880 good answer
00:30:00.380 the astronauts
00:30:01.860 on the space station
00:30:02.800 are they political
00:30:04.620 prisoners
00:30:05.100 some of them are
00:30:06.980 because
00:30:08.160 because you could
00:30:09.080 have given him
00:30:09.440 a ride back
00:30:10.200 and
00:30:10.420 Joe Biden said
00:30:12.820 no purely
00:30:13.460 for politics
00:30:14.180 yeah I mean
00:30:15.120 you know
00:30:16.300 there's been some
00:30:16.840 debate about this
00:30:18.200 online but
00:30:18.700 the thing is that
00:30:19.320 it was very
00:30:20.420 a very high level
00:30:21.120 decision so
00:30:21.940 it wasn't
00:30:23.140 really even a
00:30:23.780 NASA decision
00:30:24.440 it was just that
00:30:25.580 the Biden White House
00:30:27.820 did not want to
00:30:28.500 have someone
00:30:29.820 who was pro-Trump
00:30:31.680 rescuing astronauts
00:30:33.280 right before the election
00:30:34.240 so they pushed it
00:30:36.020 well if you're one
00:30:36.620 of those astronauts
00:30:37.200 you've got to be
00:30:37.660 pretty pissed off
00:30:38.320 about that
00:30:38.780 well if they're
00:30:40.380 a Democrat
00:30:41.260 yes
00:30:41.780 a Democrat
00:30:43.860 like everything's
00:30:44.980 fine
00:30:45.240 fair enough
00:30:45.780 so I think one of
00:30:47.400 them is a Republican
00:30:48.060 or a Democrat
00:30:48.820 so it depends on
00:30:49.620 which one you ask
00:30:50.360 well thank you Elon
00:30:51.340 this was awesome
00:30:52.720 and let me say
00:30:53.840 and by the way
00:30:54.680 I put out on X
00:30:56.880 the day before
00:30:57.800 yesterday
00:30:58.260 if you were having
00:30:58.880 a beer with Elon
00:30:59.540 and could ask him
00:31:00.200 anything
00:31:00.500 what would you ask
00:31:01.400 and got lots of
00:31:02.200 responses
00:31:02.740 the most common
00:31:04.320 response people said
00:31:05.420 is say thank you
00:31:07.360 look Texans
00:31:08.460 and the American
00:31:08.980 people appreciate
00:31:09.800 what you're doing
00:31:10.540 you don't have to
00:31:11.640 put up with this BS
00:31:12.460 and you're doing it
00:31:13.480 I'm grateful
00:31:14.260 you're making a hell
00:31:15.560 of a difference
00:31:15.980 for this country
00:31:16.680 I appreciate you
00:31:17.880 and the Americans
00:31:18.640 appreciate you
00:31:19.440 thank you
00:31:19.900 it's essential
00:31:20.400 for the future
00:31:20.900 of civilization
00:31:21.500 otherwise I wouldn't
00:31:22.120 be doing it
00:31:22.680 yes
00:31:22.900 it's not like
00:31:23.440 I want to get
00:31:23.880 death threats
00:31:24.340 you know
00:31:24.840 no
00:31:25.120 what year
00:31:26.920 does man
00:31:27.740 first set foot
00:31:28.780 on Mars
00:31:29.260 I think the
00:31:30.460 soonest would be
00:31:31.540 29
00:31:32.420 29
00:31:33.240 yes
00:31:34.040 and I don't think
00:31:35.500 it's more than
00:31:36.080 two to four years
00:31:37.220 beyond that
00:31:37.820 and that's not
00:31:38.600 an unmanned
00:31:39.100 that's that's a
00:31:39.920 human being
00:31:40.720 putting his foot
00:31:41.760 on the surface
00:31:42.360 yes best case
00:31:43.420 would be 29
00:31:44.040 and what do you
00:31:45.000 what do you put
00:31:45.780 the odds
00:31:46.540 of finding
00:31:47.900 either alien life
00:31:49.280 or evidence
00:31:49.980 of alien life
00:31:50.760 I don't think
00:31:51.360 we're going to
00:31:51.620 find aliens
00:31:52.200 okay
00:31:52.600 but do we find
00:31:53.780 ruins
00:31:54.120 do we find
00:31:54.600 remnants
00:31:55.020 we may
00:31:55.740 we may find
00:31:56.500 the ruins
00:31:56.840 of a long
00:31:57.160 dead alien
00:31:57.640 civilization
00:31:58.200 that's possible
00:31:59.000 and we may
00:31:59.700 find
00:32:00.200 subterranean
00:32:01.640 microbial life
00:32:03.040 that's possible
00:32:03.760 all right
00:32:04.320 if man lands
00:32:05.280 on Mars
00:32:05.800 in 29
00:32:06.360 how soon
00:32:07.520 after that
00:32:08.280 do you land
00:32:09.160 on Mars
00:32:09.620 remains to be seen
00:32:10.620 I'm not sure
00:32:11.120 the important thing
00:32:11.920 is that
00:32:12.400 we build
00:32:13.940 a self-sustaining
00:32:14.840 city on Mars
00:32:16.100 as quickly
00:32:16.700 as possible
00:32:17.320 the key
00:32:19.060 threshold
00:32:19.580 is when
00:32:21.020 that city
00:32:21.640 can continue
00:32:22.980 to grow
00:32:23.380 continue to prosper
00:32:24.240 even when
00:32:25.220 the supply
00:32:26.060 ships from
00:32:26.720 Earth
00:32:27.020 stop coming
00:32:27.980 at that point
00:32:28.940 even if something
00:32:29.740 would happen
00:32:30.320 on Earth
00:32:31.260 it might not
00:32:32.600 be World War 3
00:32:33.460 but it might
00:32:34.020 be that
00:32:35.040 a bad virus
00:32:37.020 yeah
00:32:37.460 it might not
00:32:38.220 be anything
00:32:38.500 like say
00:32:40.180 civilization
00:32:40.720 you could die
00:32:41.060 with a bang
00:32:41.400 or a whimper
00:32:41.820 it may be
00:32:42.380 that civilization
00:32:43.080 dies with a whimper
00:32:44.280 rather than a bang
00:32:45.240 and simply
00:32:46.900 loses the ability
00:32:47.680 to send ships
00:32:48.720 to Mars
00:32:49.180 so you obviously
00:32:51.000 need Mars
00:32:51.540 to become
00:32:52.340 self-sustaining
00:32:53.100 and be able
00:32:53.760 to grow by itself
00:32:54.520 before the
00:32:56.420 resupply ships
00:32:57.060 from Earth
00:32:57.540 stop coming
00:32:58.100 that is the
00:32:58.840 critical
00:32:59.580 civilizational
00:33:01.020 threshold
00:33:01.520 beyond which
00:33:02.360 the probable
00:33:03.660 lifespan
00:33:04.040 of civilization
00:33:04.740 is much
00:33:05.480 greater
00:33:05.780 and how
00:33:06.460 close
00:33:06.880 are we
00:33:07.300 technologically
00:33:08.120 to be able
00:33:08.700 to do that
00:33:09.260 to have
00:33:09.840 a self-sustaining
00:33:10.800 settlement
00:33:11.700 on the surface
00:33:13.020 of Mars
00:33:13.380 I think it
00:33:14.060 can be done
00:33:14.420 in 20 years
00:33:15.120 but it would
00:33:15.700 take 20 years
00:33:16.420 so we're not
00:33:17.120 in 29
00:33:17.680 we're not there
00:33:18.540 what are we
00:33:19.040 missing
00:33:19.240 what are the
00:33:19.740 big technologies
00:33:20.500 we don't have
00:33:21.760 a few people
00:33:22.480 running around
00:33:22.960 the surface
00:33:23.460 in a hostile
00:33:24.400 environment
00:33:24.780 is not going
00:33:25.220 to make
00:33:25.440 it self-sustaining
00:33:26.040 so you're going
00:33:26.800 to need
00:33:27.000 on the order
00:33:27.540 of a million
00:33:27.920 people
00:33:28.360 maybe a million
00:33:29.420 tons of cargo
00:33:30.100 but you think
00:33:31.000 we could have
00:33:31.360 a million people
00:33:31.980 on Mars
00:33:32.420 in 20 years
00:33:33.080 yes
00:33:33.900 and what's
00:33:35.460 the technology
00:33:36.220 we're missing
00:33:36.880 right now
00:33:37.380 when you think
00:33:37.980 about a million
00:33:38.460 people on Mars
00:33:39.380 do we have
00:33:40.180 the ability
00:33:40.500 to get water
00:33:41.120 to get food
00:33:41.940 to keep them safe
00:33:43.460 what do we need
00:33:44.800 to make that happen
00:33:45.580 well you need
00:33:46.060 to recreate
00:33:46.500 the entire base
00:33:47.160 of industry
00:33:47.580 of Earth
00:33:47.940 so we're here
00:33:50.480 at the top
00:33:50.840 of a massive
00:33:51.680 pyramid of industry
00:33:52.740 that starts with
00:33:53.900 mining
00:33:54.620 a vast array
00:33:55.900 of materials
00:33:56.940 those materials
00:33:58.100 going through
00:33:58.660 hundreds of steps
00:33:59.760 of refinement
00:34:00.320 we grow food
00:34:02.260 obviously
00:34:02.720 we grow trees
00:34:04.800 we make things
00:34:05.440 out of the trees
00:34:06.160 there's
00:34:07.080 you know
00:34:07.480 you've got
00:34:07.920 you've got to
00:34:08.340 build all that
00:34:08.840 on Mars
00:34:09.240 and Mars
00:34:09.820 is a hostile
00:34:10.260 environment
00:34:10.720 it's
00:34:11.320 you know
00:34:12.040 it sometimes
00:34:12.420 gets above
00:34:13.140 zero
00:34:13.480 on a warm
00:34:14.000 summer day
00:34:14.580 near the equator
00:34:15.780 on Mars
00:34:16.240 it's quite cold
00:34:17.520 and how do you
00:34:18.440 prep for that
00:34:19.100 well in the beginning
00:34:20.240 on Mars
00:34:21.020 you have to have
00:34:21.660 a life support
00:34:23.760 habitation module
00:34:25.220 right
00:34:25.460 like you need
00:34:26.320 you can't just
00:34:26.820 live outdoors
00:34:27.380 you can't breathe
00:34:27.880 the air
00:34:28.220 like a dome
00:34:29.140 you think
00:34:29.580 is likely
00:34:30.040 yeah
00:34:30.320 glass domes
00:34:31.160 type of thing
00:34:31.660 have you identified
00:34:32.900 a location
00:34:34.460 on Mars
00:34:35.140 that is likely
00:34:35.860 to be ideal
00:34:36.960 for a habitat
00:34:37.580 what might be
00:34:38.900 Arcadia
00:34:39.380 Planetae
00:34:39.900 is one of the
00:34:42.120 one of the good
00:34:42.920 options
00:34:43.300 that's
00:34:44.180 one of my
00:34:45.320 daughters
00:34:45.560 is named
00:34:45.880 Arcadia
00:34:46.260 after that
00:34:46.860 and what makes
00:34:48.500 that attractive
00:34:49.140 my eldest son's
00:34:50.160 middle name
00:34:50.560 is
00:34:50.880 Aries
00:34:51.920 Mars
00:34:52.600 you've been
00:34:53.500 thinking about
00:34:53.800 this for a long
00:34:54.320 time if you're
00:34:54.780 naming your kids
00:34:55.440 around it
00:34:55.900 my eldest kid
00:34:56.740 is
00:34:57.060 middle name
00:34:57.860 is essentially
00:34:58.860 Mars
00:34:59.280 when did you
00:35:00.060 get the dream
00:35:00.560 like I mean
00:35:01.260 it's 20 now
00:35:02.300 2021 soon
00:35:03.300 this is a
00:35:04.120 decades old
00:35:04.880 yeah
00:35:05.420 dream
00:35:05.900 so like when
00:35:06.480 you were 10
00:35:07.020 did you look up
00:35:07.700 and say I'm
00:35:08.080 going to Mars
00:35:08.580 no
00:35:09.220 no I read a lot
00:35:11.660 of science fiction
00:35:12.200 books and
00:35:12.920 programming computers
00:35:13.880 but the first
00:35:15.500 following up the
00:35:16.300 first video game
00:35:17.080 that I sold
00:35:18.220 was a space
00:35:19.780 video game
00:35:20.280 called Blastar
00:35:20.920 maybe I was born
00:35:21.640 this way
00:35:22.040 how do you
00:35:23.380 how do you
00:35:25.220 become
00:35:25.800 Elon Musk
00:35:26.860 look you're
00:35:27.700 obviously smart
00:35:28.340 as hell
00:35:28.700 but there are
00:35:29.620 a lot of smart
00:35:30.900 people that don't
00:35:31.500 do SWOT
00:35:32.060 and you've
00:35:32.980 managed
00:35:33.520 everything you've
00:35:34.860 touched
00:35:35.220 has been an
00:35:36.140 extraordinary
00:35:36.540 success
00:35:37.300 yeah
00:35:38.140 yeah look I
00:35:40.040 mean that's
00:35:40.500 just objectively
00:35:41.180 right
00:35:41.500 so what has
00:35:42.300 led to that
00:35:42.940 because there
00:35:43.360 are other smart
00:35:43.840 people that
00:35:44.300 that's not
00:35:44.680 true and
00:35:45.500 they gaze
00:35:45.860 at their
00:35:46.080 navel and
00:35:46.440 they don't
00:35:46.720 do anything
00:35:47.400 so what
00:35:48.040 what do you
00:35:49.020 do differently
00:35:49.560 that makes
00:35:49.940 you so
00:35:50.220 effective
00:35:50.540 well I suppose
00:35:51.220 I have a
00:35:51.580 philosophy of
00:35:52.100 curiosity
00:35:52.600 I want to
00:35:53.420 find out
00:35:53.940 the nature
00:35:54.700 of the universe
00:35:55.180 understand the
00:35:55.720 universe
00:35:56.100 and in order
00:35:57.620 to do that
00:35:58.140 we have to
00:35:58.660 travel to other
00:35:59.180 planets
00:35:59.540 see other
00:36:00.560 star systems
00:36:01.080 maybe other
00:36:01.540 galaxies
00:36:01.940 find perhaps
00:36:04.020 other alien
00:36:04.500 civilizations
00:36:05.020 or at least
00:36:05.560 the remnants
00:36:06.020 of alien
00:36:06.620 civilizations
00:36:07.220 gain a better
00:36:08.720 understanding of
00:36:09.280 where is this
00:36:09.800 universe going
00:36:10.440 ready to come
00:36:11.020 from
00:36:11.260 and what
00:36:11.860 questions
00:36:12.340 do we not
00:36:13.080 yet know
00:36:13.680 to ask
00:36:14.260 about the
00:36:14.620 answer that
00:36:15.060 is the
00:36:15.340 universe
00:36:15.740 so let's
00:36:16.560 go back
00:36:17.160 25 years
00:36:18.760 late 90s
00:36:19.720 you're at
00:36:20.340 paypal
00:36:20.680 how do you
00:36:21.480 turn paypal
00:36:22.220 into the
00:36:22.620 success it
00:36:23.180 was which
00:36:23.860 which then
00:36:24.360 helped launch
00:36:24.940 you to the
00:36:25.300 next one
00:36:25.680 and the
00:36:25.860 next
00:36:26.060 yeah so I
00:36:26.800 studied physics
00:36:27.440 and economics
00:36:28.140 in college
00:36:28.900 which is a good
00:36:29.880 foundation for
00:36:30.620 understanding how
00:36:31.080 the economy
00:36:31.460 works and
00:36:32.000 how the
00:36:32.680 reality works
00:36:33.800 and then
00:36:35.160 was going to
00:36:36.560 do a phd
00:36:37.680 at stanford
00:36:38.200 in advanced
00:36:40.320 ultra capacitors
00:36:41.600 actually as a
00:36:42.860 potential means
00:36:44.340 of energy
00:36:45.780 storage for
00:36:46.480 electric transport
00:36:47.620 put that
00:36:48.840 on hold
00:36:49.200 to start
00:36:50.420 an internet
00:36:50.720 company
00:36:51.100 I essentially
00:36:53.060 came to the
00:36:53.380 conclusion that
00:36:53.800 the internet
00:36:54.120 was one of
00:36:54.680 those rare
00:36:55.220 things and
00:36:56.380 I could either
00:36:56.760 watch it happen
00:36:57.480 while a grad
00:36:58.240 student or
00:36:58.800 anticipate and
00:36:59.720 I figured I'd
00:37:00.120 always go back
00:37:00.620 to grad school
00:37:01.100 you know grad
00:37:01.760 school is going
00:37:02.140 to be kind
00:37:02.620 of the same
00:37:03.000 but I couldn't
00:37:05.080 bear the thought
00:37:05.540 of just watching
00:37:06.040 the internet
00:37:06.340 happen so I
00:37:07.380 wanted to be a
00:37:07.780 part of building
00:37:08.200 it so I
00:37:08.920 created an
00:37:09.980 internet
00:37:10.220 company we
00:37:11.540 did the first
00:37:12.100 maps directions
00:37:12.900 yellow pages
00:37:13.540 white pages
00:37:14.260 on the internet
00:37:15.540 I actually wrote
00:37:16.080 the first version
00:37:16.620 of software just
00:37:17.700 by myself in
00:37:18.740 95 and we
00:37:21.160 ended up selling
00:37:21.620 that to
00:37:22.340 compact Texas
00:37:23.740 company I
00:37:24.200 guess for
00:37:25.460 about 300
00:37:25.920 million dollars
00:37:26.360 in cash about
00:37:27.340 four years after
00:37:27.920 I graduated
00:37:28.420 wow so I
00:37:30.740 should say just
00:37:31.320 to preface that
00:37:32.160 I graduated with
00:37:33.180 about a hundred
00:37:33.580 thousand dollars
00:37:34.140 in student debt
00:37:34.740 so it wasn't
00:37:35.640 yeah you and
00:37:36.360 me both
00:37:36.740 yeah yeah
00:37:38.260 where's my
00:37:38.860 300 million
00:37:39.340 I'm right I
00:37:40.060 know and
00:37:41.560 when I first
00:37:41.980 arrived in North
00:37:42.480 America I
00:37:42.920 arrived with
00:37:43.380 $2,500 a
00:37:45.120 bag of books
00:37:45.680 and a bag
00:37:46.580 of clothes
00:37:47.020 all right so
00:37:47.740 you sell the
00:37:48.200 company for
00:37:48.660 300 million
00:37:49.340 how much does
00:37:50.060 that change
00:37:50.540 your life
00:37:51.000 well I got
00:37:51.520 21 million
00:37:52.440 dollars black
00:37:53.100 drag and
00:37:56.000 but I wanted
00:37:57.420 to do more
00:37:58.040 on the internet
00:37:58.440 so started a
00:37:59.900 company called
00:38:00.760 x.com which
00:38:02.200 merged with a
00:38:02.720 company called
00:38:03.280 Confinity which
00:38:04.780 is Peter Thiel and
00:38:05.560 Max Levchin
00:38:06.240 yeah and the
00:38:08.160 combined company
00:38:08.720 was actually at
00:38:09.360 first still called
00:38:10.060 x.com but we
00:38:11.120 later changed the
00:38:12.240 name of the
00:38:12.640 company to
00:38:13.180 PayPal because
00:38:14.800 of all the
00:38:15.140 name changes
00:38:15.580 it's kind of
00:38:15.980 confusing but
00:38:16.700 the company
00:38:17.440 that people
00:38:17.720 know as
00:38:18.140 PayPal today
00:38:20.300 was actually
00:38:20.920 I filed those
00:38:21.900 incorporation
00:38:22.380 documents for
00:38:23.120 that company
00:38:23.540 interesting
00:38:23.940 yeah well
00:38:25.220 and as you
00:38:25.960 know Peter
00:38:26.840 Thiel and I
00:38:27.380 were buddies
00:38:28.020 back in the
00:38:28.880 mid 90s before
00:38:29.780 he went and
00:38:30.180 did any of
00:38:30.580 this but you
00:38:31.300 know I
00:38:31.540 became friends
00:38:32.220 with him when
00:38:32.560 he was a
00:38:33.160 corporate lawyer
00:38:33.900 in New York
00:38:34.440 and just sort
00:38:35.100 of a young
00:38:35.460 libertarian with
00:38:36.460 a lot of
00:38:37.020 dreams so it's
00:38:38.120 been a heck
00:38:38.720 of a journey
00:38:39.120 yeah yeah
00:38:40.340 and now
00:38:40.980 obviously Peter
00:38:41.560 was involved in
00:38:42.340 a coup you
00:38:43.720 know we had
00:38:44.320 a little sort
00:38:45.220 of knifing in
00:38:46.020 the senate
00:38:46.300 situation where
00:38:50.580 you know that
00:38:52.500 they did
00:38:52.840 coup me at
00:38:53.400 PayPal I
00:38:56.320 kind of
00:38:56.700 now did you
00:38:57.280 all make peace
00:38:57.880 after that
00:38:58.380 yeah yeah
00:38:58.740 yeah I mean I
00:39:00.300 was doing a lot
00:39:01.360 of sort of risky
00:39:01.980 moves that I
00:39:02.600 think ultimately
00:39:03.140 would have been
00:39:03.600 successful but I
00:39:05.160 then went on a
00:39:06.120 two-week trip
00:39:07.760 which was a
00:39:09.120 dual money
00:39:10.360 raising trip
00:39:11.400 and honeymoon
00:39:12.060 and said
00:39:12.640 not done my
00:39:13.560 honeymoon
00:39:13.940 earlier in the
00:39:14.760 year so I was
00:39:15.440 raising money while
00:39:16.060 doing it doing
00:39:16.520 honeymoon but I
00:39:17.420 was kind of
00:39:18.320 away that go
00:39:18.940 over by the
00:39:19.380 way it
00:39:20.140 worked it
00:39:20.920 worked there
00:39:21.600 you go kind
00:39:22.240 of it worked I
00:39:22.860 raised money yeah
00:39:23.640 yeah and we had
00:39:24.560 honeymoon there you
00:39:25.400 go so yeah
00:39:26.780 but you don't
00:39:28.060 want to be away
00:39:28.480 from the battle
00:39:29.020 when things are
00:39:29.940 scary so I was
00:39:32.620 not there to
00:39:33.140 assuage the
00:39:33.600 concerns of the
00:39:34.180 troops and
00:39:35.780 anyway we
00:39:39.000 passed things
00:39:39.640 up and have
00:39:40.780 been friends
00:39:41.540 nonetheless and
00:39:43.920 yeah these days
00:39:45.080 I'll like stay at
00:39:45.640 his house and
00:39:46.120 stuff so obviously
00:39:46.740 we're friends and
00:39:47.580 he's also invested
00:39:48.560 in most of my
00:39:49.460 companies
00:39:49.780 Canadian women are
00:39:51.540 looking for more
00:39:52.400 more out of
00:39:53.040 themselves their
00:39:53.840 businesses their
00:39:54.780 elected leaders and
00:39:55.880 the world around
00:39:56.460 them and that's why
00:39:57.300 we're thrilled to
00:39:58.000 introduce the
00:39:58.820 honest talk podcast
00:40:00.140 I'm Jennifer Stewart
00:40:01.480 and I'm Catherine
00:40:02.400 Clark and in this
00:40:03.440 podcast we interview
00:40:04.600 Canada's most
00:40:05.400 inspiring women
00:40:06.380 entrepreneurs artists
00:40:07.860 athletes politicians
00:40:09.140 and newsmakers all
00:40:10.540 at different stages
00:40:11.340 of their journey so
00:40:12.700 if you're looking to
00:40:13.680 connect then we hope
00:40:14.720 you'll join us listen
00:40:15.840 to the honest talk
00:40:16.580 podcast on iHeart
00:40:17.700 radio or wherever you
00:40:18.860 listen to your
00:40:19.280 podcasts all right so
00:40:22.120 2002 you start
00:40:23.580 SpaceX like how do
00:40:25.120 you start a rocket
00:40:25.920 company like what's
00:40:26.740 the first day where
00:40:28.420 you're like I want to
00:40:29.180 make rockets and I
00:40:30.140 want to go to Mars
00:40:30.740 like what do you do
00:40:31.520 on day one so I
00:40:32.640 think you have to
00:40:33.020 start with a some
00:40:34.260 sort of philosophical
00:40:35.060 premise in order to
00:40:36.380 have in order for
00:40:37.820 the in order to be
00:40:38.860 in order to be highly
00:40:39.800 motivated you have to
00:40:41.040 have some philosophical
00:40:43.300 foundation in my case
00:40:44.780 it was that that we
00:40:46.580 want to expand the
00:40:47.980 scope and scale of
00:40:49.400 consciousness to better
00:40:51.460 understand the nature
00:40:52.360 of the universe and in
00:40:54.620 order to expand
00:40:55.660 scale expand
00:40:56.640 consciousness we need
00:40:57.880 to go beyond one
00:40:59.200 planet if you're for
00:41:00.160 one planet there's
00:41:01.360 there's too much risk
00:41:02.340 you know hopefully
00:41:02.920 earth civilization
00:41:04.120 prospers very far into
00:41:05.420 the future but it
00:41:05.940 may not there's
00:41:06.640 always some risk that
00:41:07.420 we are we self
00:41:08.580 annihilate through
00:41:09.160 nuclear war or that
00:41:10.620 there's a big meteor
00:41:11.740 that takes us out like
00:41:12.700 the dinosaurs yep
00:41:13.480 there's always some
00:41:14.380 risk if all your eggs
00:41:15.080 are in one basket so
00:41:16.120 it's going to be better
00:41:17.100 if we're multi-planet
00:41:18.940 species and then once
00:41:20.220 we're multi-planet
00:41:20.780 species that the next
00:41:21.700 step would be to be
00:41:22.620 multi-stellar and have
00:41:24.140 civilization among on
00:41:26.340 many different star
00:41:27.200 systems so in 2001 I
00:41:29.420 didn't think that I
00:41:30.060 could I didn't think
00:41:30.920 I could sell a rocket
00:41:31.500 company so I I thought
00:41:32.760 I'd take some of the
00:41:33.320 money from PayPal and
00:41:35.820 in that case I think
00:41:36.520 it was about 180
00:41:38.080 million dollars after
00:41:39.140 tax something like
00:41:40.720 that and I thought you
00:41:42.340 know I don't need 180
00:41:43.480 million dollars so I'll
00:41:45.380 spend a bunch of it on
00:41:46.580 a philanthropic Mars
00:41:48.680 mission to get the
00:41:50.500 public excited about
00:41:51.800 going back to Mars or
00:41:53.000 going to Mars I should
00:41:54.100 say yeah Mars was
00:41:56.040 always going to be the
00:41:56.680 destination after the
00:41:57.440 moon right in fact if
00:41:59.440 you told people in the
00:42:00.040 night in 1969 that it
00:42:01.880 would be 2025 and we've
00:42:03.480 not even gone back to
00:42:04.240 the moon let alone it's
00:42:05.520 hard to believe let alone
00:42:06.640 Mars they'd be like what
00:42:07.980 happened in civilization
00:42:08.740 civilization collapse top
00:42:10.420 yeah like like there
00:42:12.360 would be incomprehensible
00:42:13.320 that we've not been to
00:42:14.320 Mars by now if you told
00:42:15.440 people this and after
00:42:16.620 landing on the moon in
00:42:17.180 69 why do you think in
00:42:18.640 50 years America never
00:42:19.720 went back to the moon
00:42:20.420 well we destroyed the
00:42:21.700 Saturn 5 rocket that
00:42:22.740 was that could take
00:42:23.920 people to the moon and
00:42:24.960 had the space shuttle which
00:42:25.760 could only go to low
00:42:26.400 orbit and then there
00:42:28.340 really hasn't been
00:42:29.140 anything to replace any
00:42:31.320 no vehicle has been
00:42:32.420 made since then that
00:42:33.840 can go to the moon or
00:42:35.300 to Mars until the
00:42:37.060 SpaceX starship rocket
00:42:38.440 yeah so can't go to
00:42:40.040 Mars if you don't have
00:42:40.660 the ride so I remember
00:42:42.040 you and I first met in
00:42:44.480 2013 when when I was a
00:42:46.720 brand new baby senator
00:42:47.640 yeah and I was still
00:42:49.160 down in the basement
00:42:49.900 office they stick freshman
00:42:51.680 senators in a basement
00:42:52.540 office kind of like
00:42:53.300 hazing yeah yeah it's
00:42:54.180 what's that sounds like
00:42:54.780 there are a hundred
00:42:56.440 senate offices but for
00:42:57.460 six months you stay in
00:42:58.240 the basement put you
00:42:58.720 in a place but it's
00:42:59.480 like wearing beans
00:43:00.140 they want you know
00:43:02.060 where you're supposed
00:43:02.620 to be you know I gotta
00:43:03.280 say now 13 years into
00:43:04.760 it I think there's a
00:43:05.260 lot of wisdom to doing
00:43:06.080 that but you were down
00:43:08.660 in the basement office
00:43:09.520 and I remember you were
00:43:10.200 coming and sitting down
00:43:11.080 with SpaceX and at the
00:43:12.220 time the Air Force was
00:43:13.860 not letting y'all bid to
00:43:14.960 launch satellites and so
00:43:16.200 you were coming and
00:43:16.780 saying look we got a
00:43:17.820 company I think we can
00:43:18.580 do a really good job of
00:43:19.420 this and yet we're
00:43:20.060 locked out of this it's a
00:43:21.720 little amazing to think
00:43:23.000 the journey SpaceX has
00:43:24.300 gone from then to now
00:43:26.100 yes it's hard to believe
00:43:27.780 that this is all real
00:43:28.460 because originally
00:43:30.600 it's consistent with my
00:43:32.520 belief that we need to
00:43:33.180 become a multi-planet
00:43:34.540 species I thought the
00:43:35.280 only way to do that
00:43:35.840 would be through NASA
00:43:36.640 so and I think I
00:43:38.680 thought well if I can
00:43:40.060 just get the public
00:43:40.580 excited about Mars then
00:43:41.960 they'll do a mission to
00:43:43.060 Mars and so initially
00:43:44.960 my thought was to have
00:43:46.040 to send a small
00:43:46.720 greenhouse with seeds
00:43:48.480 and dehydrated nutrient
00:43:49.780 gel then land the
00:43:51.240 greenhouse hydrate the
00:43:52.820 seeds and you see
00:43:53.820 these this sort of
00:43:54.880 money shot the money
00:43:56.220 shot would be green
00:43:57.180 plants on a red
00:43:57.780 background yeah I also
00:44:00.020 recently know that
00:44:00.600 money shot has a
00:44:02.100 different meaning in
00:44:02.780 some other arenas but
00:44:04.460 yeah I'm glad you did
00:44:06.300 it's a very different
00:44:08.120 story but what I'm
00:44:10.320 trying to say is the
00:44:11.660 the captivating shot
00:44:13.260 would be the green
00:44:14.920 plants on a red
00:44:15.500 background and that
00:44:17.020 hopefully that would if
00:44:18.200 we did something like
00:44:18.720 that that would get the
00:44:19.320 public excited about
00:44:20.120 Mars that would increase
00:44:21.060 NASA's budget and then
00:44:22.360 we could send people to
00:44:23.140 Mars so your original
00:44:24.300 dream was NASA to do
00:44:25.320 this yes not you no
00:44:27.320 the original original
00:44:28.060 plan was literally to
00:44:30.540 take a bunch of the
00:44:31.420 money from PayPal and I
00:44:33.660 guess by some people's
00:44:34.380 definition waste it with
00:44:35.960 no profit yeah on a
00:44:37.900 non-profit thing it took I
00:44:40.060 wanted to spend a whole
00:44:40.640 bunch of my money for
00:44:41.620 free to get NASA's budget
00:44:42.660 to be bigger so we can go
00:44:43.700 to friggin Mars right
00:44:44.640 wow that's what I wanted
00:44:46.660 so that was the holy grail
00:44:48.260 that's what I wanted I
00:44:49.200 was like so when did
00:44:50.220 you change directions
00:44:50.940 why am I going to go to
00:44:51.340 Mars that's what I wanted
00:44:52.620 no when when did it
00:44:54.120 strike you okay you're
00:44:55.480 gonna have to do this if
00:44:56.280 you want I'll tell you it
00:44:56.980 gets crazier all right it
00:44:58.280 gets crazier so so then I
00:44:59.720 couldn't afford any of the
00:45:00.740 U.S. rockets because as
00:45:01.620 you know the U.S. rockets
00:45:02.360 are way too expensive the
00:45:03.420 Boeing Lockheed Lockheed
00:45:04.680 rockets are crazy money I
00:45:05.700 didn't have I didn't even
00:45:06.940 even with 180 million is
00:45:07.980 no way I could have
00:45:08.460 afforded
00:45:08.680 how much were they back
00:45:09.420 then
00:45:09.700 well the that with with
00:45:13.040 the additional stage to
00:45:15.080 get to Mars it would
00:45:15.780 have been about like 80
00:45:16.520 million so technically I
00:45:17.720 could have afforded one
00:45:18.520 of them but I wanted to
00:45:19.940 do two in case one of
00:45:21.100 them didn't work yeah so
00:45:22.800 and then I didn't have
00:45:24.320 enough money for that yeah
00:45:25.100 and I was sort of
00:45:25.920 prepared to you know I
00:45:27.640 don't know ways to have
00:45:28.980 the money and I figured
00:45:30.940 if I had 90 million left
00:45:32.020 that'd be fine you know
00:45:33.100 but ideally not all of
00:45:34.780 it so I went to Russia
00:45:36.580 twice to try to buy
00:45:38.420 ICBMs how interesting
00:45:39.880 how'd that go and who do
00:45:41.680 you call the Russian
00:45:43.260 rocket forces do they
00:45:44.820 sell ICBMs does that
00:45:46.080 work yeah
00:45:46.780 you got to tell us a
00:45:49.260 story that I want to
00:45:50.060 know who I was out of
00:45:51.000 warhead turns out you
00:45:51.820 can buy anything in
00:45:52.460 Russia yeah I like
00:45:54.800 please walk me down that
00:45:56.340 I want to know how you
00:45:57.340 made that phone call and
00:45:58.540 when you get there how did
00:45:59.840 that work and what do you
00:46:00.620 tell your friends yeah
00:46:01.620 listen I'm I'm going to
00:46:03.040 Russian advice to my
00:46:03.760 ICBMs I I might not
00:46:05.100 return you know
00:46:06.080 depending on this
00:46:07.360 situation literally
00:46:08.800 yeah so it gets slightly
00:46:12.320 less insane when you
00:46:13.320 when you understand that
00:46:15.480 the Russians had to
00:46:17.720 demolish a bunch of their
00:46:19.360 ICBMs because of you know
00:46:22.180 salt talks like yeah
00:46:23.280 right because of basically
00:46:24.660 an agreement between the
00:46:26.120 United States and and
00:46:27.340 Russia to reduce the total
00:46:28.660 number of ICBMs sure Russia
00:46:30.320 was actually obligated to
00:46:31.700 scrap a bunch of their
00:46:33.000 ICBMs so you took the very
00:46:34.480 biggest ICBMs you could
00:46:36.100 convert those into a
00:46:37.220 rocket at an additional
00:46:38.360 stage and and send
00:46:39.680 something to Mars so
00:46:40.840 those are big enough with
00:46:42.000 one more stage to get to
00:46:43.580 Mars to send a small
00:46:45.000 payload to Mars yeah so
00:46:46.380 the SS-18 so you try to
00:46:48.400 buy ICBMs do you succeed
00:46:49.660 or no or do you figure out
00:46:51.560 you got to build your own
00:46:52.340 instead they kept raising
00:46:53.700 the price on me so because
00:46:56.500 I figured like look they
00:46:57.420 got to throw these things
00:46:58.020 in the scrapyard anyway
00:46:58.820 yeah you should get a
00:46:59.700 really good deal yeah
00:47:00.680 right so the price started
00:47:03.160 out at 4 million then the
00:47:05.820 next conversation they
00:47:06.580 were at 8 million then
00:47:07.900 the next conversation they
00:47:08.860 were at like 19 million and
00:47:10.600 I'm like this is before we
00:47:11.700 signed a contract by the
00:47:12.520 way was there another
00:47:13.200 bidder was there another
00:47:14.740 bidder or were you the
00:47:15.400 only one trying to buy
00:47:16.200 them I think I don't know
00:47:17.880 if there were other bids but
00:47:18.820 they didn't mention any
00:47:19.420 other bids yeah but I was
00:47:20.940 like man if the price is
00:47:22.020 increasing this much before
00:47:23.160 the contract sign yeah I'm
00:47:24.700 really going to get
00:47:25.220 fleeced after the contract
00:47:26.160 yeah so so I got pretty
00:47:28.200 frustrated there actually in
00:47:31.100 some cases we got into like
00:47:32.080 shouting matches in
00:47:33.040 Moscow so some guys shouting
00:47:36.640 at me in Russian I'm
00:47:37.880 shouting back at him and
00:47:38.620 I'm very glad that my
00:47:39.380 interpreter is like that
00:47:40.680 yeah that put it out really
00:47:42.020 badly you know I'm like so
00:47:44.100 you are all I mean you're
00:47:45.800 all in
00:47:46.120 in Moscow yeah
00:47:50.760 so uh man I should have
00:47:53.820 recorded that that would have
00:47:54.600 been wonderful how many days
00:47:56.100 were you there negotiating
00:47:57.000 that first time I mean was
00:47:58.300 this like ongoing yeah yeah
00:48:00.000 this this took place these
00:48:01.960 conversations took place
00:48:02.920 over probably six months or
00:48:04.520 so wow um so um and then
00:48:07.500 the final trip trip there was
00:48:09.420 with the uh with was with
00:48:11.460 Mike Griffin who later became
00:48:12.680 NASA administrator um I I
00:48:15.340 actually realized in the in
00:48:16.700 the course of this that my
00:48:17.840 original premise was wrong
00:48:19.460 that that America actually has
00:48:21.160 plenty of will to go to Mars
00:48:22.980 but needs that it just needs a
00:48:24.940 way to Mars um that is
00:48:27.900 affordable um and that doesn't
00:48:29.560 break the budget you know
00:48:30.440 as you know we couldn't even
00:48:31.420 get to the space station we
00:48:32.520 needed the Russians to to get
00:48:33.880 us to our own space station
00:48:35.020 that was embarrassing it
00:48:36.000 really was pitiful I'm not
00:48:37.480 sure most Americans know just
00:48:38.660 how much we were being
00:48:39.800 fleeced like I think they got
00:48:40.860 up to like 90 million dollars
00:48:41.860 a seat yeah wow yeah
00:48:44.020 before a seat that cost them
00:48:45.440 like that was pre-doge
00:48:46.420 obviously yeah but it was the
00:48:48.240 only it was pretty yeah it was
00:48:49.440 before SpaceX yeah but 90
00:48:51.760 million dollars a seat for a
00:48:53.160 seat that cost them 10
00:48:53.920 million is high yeah that's a
00:48:56.980 lot of money yeah so a few
00:48:59.060 months ago you and I were
00:49:00.580 down in Boca Chica with the
00:49:02.300 president for a starship
00:49:03.440 launch and it is incredible
00:49:05.780 what you built in Boca Chica
00:49:07.060 yeah you know five years ago
00:49:08.640 it was an empty beach at the
00:49:10.580 southern tip of Texas
00:49:11.300 it's a sandbar yeah and it's
00:49:13.080 now a city and a factory where
00:49:15.480 you're building a rocket ship a
00:49:16.760 month with with incredible
00:49:18.100 precision yeah but one of the
00:49:19.880 things you you said to me when
00:49:21.140 we were down there that really
00:49:22.120 stood out to me is is is you
00:49:24.000 said your philosophy on
00:49:25.600 intellectual property I've
00:49:26.940 talked to lots of CEOs they're
00:49:28.240 like oh yeah we fight to guard
00:49:29.540 our IP and you and you had a
00:49:31.060 very different approach what
00:49:32.080 what's what's your view of IP
00:49:33.780 patents for the week
00:49:35.320 patents for those who
00:49:37.880 innovate slowly I literally do
00:49:40.020 not know anyone else in
00:49:41.500 business who would say
00:49:42.300 something like that like like
00:49:43.340 it was a startling and and
00:49:45.760 and and what Elon said down
00:49:46.940 there is he said look this
00:49:48.320 stuff I assume everyone will
00:49:49.480 steal everything but by the
00:49:50.560 time they steal it will be five
00:49:51.700 generations beyond and it
00:49:52.760 won't matter yes at at Tesla
00:49:55.480 we actually open source a lot
00:49:56.620 of patents so we said our
00:49:57.460 patents are anyone can use them
00:49:59.280 for free really um yeah uh
00:50:01.900 the only we only do patents
00:50:02.900 at Tesla to it to avoid patent
00:50:05.840 trolls causing causing trouble
00:50:07.320 so we'll try to look ahead and
00:50:10.120 say okay patent trolls are going
00:50:11.460 to trial patent you know file
00:50:13.160 patents to block certain things
00:50:14.180 we'll file patents and then
00:50:15.220 open source that make it free I
00:50:17.060 mean I'm going to say patents
00:50:17.940 for the week now there are a few
00:50:19.360 uh cases in in say with
00:50:21.800 pharmaceuticals where it might
00:50:23.020 cost you a billion dollars to do a
00:50:24.400 phase three uh human file um but
00:50:27.000 then subsequently the drug is
00:50:29.080 very cheap to manufacture so
00:50:30.900 cases there are some in my
00:50:32.500 opinion which is massively
00:50:33.920 reduced what can be patented um
00:50:36.080 and and and say because the
00:50:38.220 whole point of patenting is is to
00:50:39.920 maximize innovation not inhibit it
00:50:41.780 um and in my opinion it's maybe
00:50:44.700 a controversial opinion uh most
00:50:46.440 patents inhibit innovation they do
00:50:48.040 not help it um but there are
00:50:50.240 cases I want to do want to single
00:50:51.700 out cases like where such as a
00:50:53.500 case three clinical trial it might
00:50:54.940 cost a billion dollars but the
00:50:56.100 then the drugs thereafter cost a
00:50:57.960 few dollars to a manufacturer and
00:51:00.300 and if you can then immediately
00:51:01.860 copy those drugs for a few
00:51:03.200 dollars no one will pay for the
00:51:04.360 billion dollars there's a free
00:51:05.120 rider prop free rider problem
00:51:06.600 yeah exactly so you have to
00:51:07.820 address the free rider problem but
00:51:09.340 other than that there should be no
00:51:10.340 patents the ideas are easy you
00:51:12.820 want ideas to flow maximum to
00:51:15.400 people to get there faster and do
00:51:17.280 things bigger the idea is the easy
00:51:19.220 part uh the heart execution is the
00:51:21.660 hard part as the old saying goes
00:51:23.600 it's one percent inspiration if not
00:51:25.980 less than one percent and 99 percent
00:51:27.620 perspiration but I'll say the
00:51:29.220 perspiration part you're really damn
00:51:31.020 good at also because you're making
00:51:32.920 you know the companies you're
00:51:34.160 building are actually building stuff
00:51:37.360 they're building cars they're
00:51:38.520 building spaceships they're building
00:51:39.680 things that if they don't work it's
00:51:41.000 a real problem and and yeah the
00:51:42.760 precision you manufacture things with
00:51:45.180 how do you get that level of
00:51:46.920 precision how do you get how do you
00:51:48.380 build a culture you're not you're
00:51:50.900 amazing at thinking outside the box
00:51:52.820 but but what's interesting is you're
00:51:54.580 you may even be better at
00:51:55.860 execution which is how do you
00:51:58.440 execute so effectively well I take a
00:52:00.460 physics first principles approach to
00:52:02.280 everything it's not as though I I
00:52:04.360 wanted to insource manufacturing it's
00:52:06.880 just that I was unable to outsource
00:52:08.780 it effectively so you know the idea
00:52:11.880 the beginning of Tesla was that we
00:52:13.400 would outsource almost all the
00:52:15.580 manufacturing but then it turned out
00:52:17.840 there was no there were no good
00:52:19.880 companies to outsource manufacturing
00:52:22.040 to which there wasn't really really
00:52:24.840 wasn't feasible outsource
00:52:26.180 manufacturing actually is the
00:52:28.460 exception of the rule and and just
00:52:31.400 over time we had to insource almost
00:52:32.880 everything for Tesla and same for
00:52:34.360 SpaceX I became very good at
00:52:36.180 manufacturing because I had to there
00:52:38.280 was no choice at this point I might
00:52:39.880 know more about manufacturing than any
00:52:41.940 any human ever has because I've
00:52:43.660 done so many I've manufactured so
00:52:45.400 many different things in so many
00:52:46.440 different arenas I think probably
00:52:48.580 more than anyone ever has look
00:52:50.540 that's that sounds like an
00:52:52.320 astonishing statement but it's not a
00:52:54.020 crazy statement and you're somehow
00:52:55.800 running Tesla and running SpaceX and
00:52:59.280 running X and running the boring
00:53:01.020 company and running Neuralink and
00:53:03.060 doing Doge how much do you sleep in a
00:53:05.500 given night about six hours on
00:53:07.180 average so about six so that's it
00:53:09.540 wouldn't have shocked me if you said
00:53:10.480 three or four so the next question
00:53:12.060 is how many hours do you work a day I
00:53:14.060 work almost every waking hour and
00:53:16.400 Ben he he's not kidding at that like
00:53:18.700 when Elon and I were first getting to
00:53:20.000 know each other I suggested I said
00:53:22.440 hey let's grab dinner sometime and I
00:53:24.340 don't know if you remember what you
00:53:25.020 said you said I don't eat dinner I
00:53:27.560 don't have social dinners right I
00:53:29.580 mean that yeah I mean you obviously
00:53:31.200 eat food but yes but the idea of like I
00:53:35.800 don't but it was it was just kind of
00:53:38.660 matter of fact what why would I go to
00:53:40.460 dinner like I you just you work uh
00:53:43.660 yeah I literally just thought I'll have
00:53:45.380 lunch and dinner abroad during meetings
00:53:46.900 and continue being how many nights have
00:53:49.860 you slept at your offices you think
00:53:51.780 your career percentage wise where you
00:53:54.000 say I just got to take this nap
00:53:55.700 basically because my body forces me to
00:53:57.540 and I got to get back to work fast and
00:53:59.360 efficiently without going somewhere
00:54:00.820 else well I guess it started out even
00:54:04.100 with the first company sub 2 which is
00:54:07.280 terrible name but the first internet
00:54:09.140 company um the we were able to rent an
00:54:12.280 office uh which was like in a leaky
00:54:14.280 attic essentially for $500 a month and
00:54:17.440 the cheapest um apartment we could find
00:54:20.240 was $800 a month so like and we only
00:54:23.320 had about $5,000 between our brother and
00:54:25.680 I so like we're not we'll just stay in
00:54:28.940 the office yeah so we got some um
00:54:31.280 couches that converted into beds um and
00:54:34.200 we'd uh kind of sleep at night and then
00:54:36.400 we just have like uh turn the beds back
00:54:39.100 into couches uh before anyone came and
00:54:41.680 then we'd shower at the YMCA down the
00:54:43.400 road and so that went that that that
00:54:45.400 literally was the for several months what
00:54:48.340 we did I was in great shape you know uh
00:54:50.960 work out at the Y um I still remember
00:54:53.140 that that YMCA uh at uh Page Miller
00:54:55.820 Al Camino uh in Palo Alto so that was a
00:54:58.780 long time ago so it's been I don't know
00:55:00.360 I've never thought to count it but uh
00:55:03.160 several hundred days maybe I don't know
00:55:04.860 so you're now the richest man on earth
00:55:07.100 do you still sleep at the office well
00:55:09.340 that's true maybe Mars we'll we'll find
00:55:12.200 someone else but I think if so if
00:55:14.200 someone is a sovereign head of a country
00:55:15.800 they're de facto richer by a lot do you
00:55:17.900 still sleep at the office now I've
00:55:19.680 sometimes slept at the office yeah as
00:55:21.680 always thank you for listening to
00:55:23.900 verdict with Senator Ted Cruz Ben
00:55:25.740 Ferguson with you don't forget to
00:55:27.100 download my podcast and you can listen
00:55:28.900 to my podcast every other day you're
00:55:30.220 not listening to verdict or each day
00:55:31.840 when you listen to verdict afterwards
00:55:33.100 I'd love to have you as a listener to
00:55:35.340 again the Ben Ferguson podcast and we
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