In his first extended interview since SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO, Elon Musk sat down with Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, at his Texas Gigafactory to talk about what he thinks this future holds. They discuss the timeline for AI overtaking human intelligence, the rapid progress of China, the reasons for his interest in Europe and why he thinks he “got a little too involved” in politics.
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
The Full-length Interview with Elon Musk | The Economist
July 29, 2026 | Elon Musk may be the most powerful man in the world. He’s worth almost $1trn, runs Tesla and SpaceX, boasts an enormous social-media following and, to top it all off, he reckons he’s pretty good at predicting the future, too.
In his first extended interview since SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO, Elon Musk sat down with Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, at his Texas Gigafactory to talk about what he thinks this future holds. They discuss the timeline for AI overtaking human intelligence, the rapid progress of China, the reasons for his interest in Europe and why he thinks he “got a little too involved” in politics.
In his first extended interview since SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO, Elon Musk sat down with Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, at his Texas Gigafactory to talk about what he thinks this future holds. They discuss the timeline for AI overtaking human intelligence, the rapid progress of China, the reasons for his interest in Europe and why he thinks he “got a little too involved” in politics.
