Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Elon Musk said artificial intelligence and robots — not government spending cuts — are the only way to fix the US national debt problem.
Speaking on a newly released episode of author Walter Isaacson's "The Builders" podcast, Musk said his 130-day stint as a special government employee in the second Trump administration led him to that view.
Musk, the world's richest person, served as the de facto leader of the White House DOGE office from January to May 2025, where he sought to slash federal spending.
"I came to the conclusion that the only way we're going to solve the national debt is with AI and robots. We're not going to solve it by trying to save our way there," Musk told Isaacson, calling the latter "impossible."
The US national debt load hit a record $40 trillion in August and has continued to climb, according to Treasury data.
"Maybe if the president made that his, you know, primary goal, we could do that, but the problem is if you try to solve the deficit and stop wasteful spending, you make a lot of enemies in that situation," Musk said.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said political leaders in Washington are mostly unwilling to rein in federal spending enough to significantly shrink the deficit.
"The appetite is not there, and it's not just at the presidency. The appetite is not there at the presidency, the House, the Senate, or the judiciary," Musk said.
He added, "Basically, no one in authority in the government whatsoever, really, with maybe a few rare exceptions of like the Rand Pauls of the world type of thing, actually wants to reduce spending — no, they don't."
Musk estimated that "digital superintelligence" could boost the global output of goods and services by 20% to 30% — an increase he estimated could add roughly $30 trillion a year to the world economy.
"If you have robots and you get to space and can do a mass driver on the moon, then you can get to, I think, potentially a million times the size of the Earth economy," he said.
This could ultimately make money "irrelevant," Musk said.
"There will still be currency, but I think currency will be measured in fundamental physics metrics like wattage and tonnage, mass and energy," he said, predicting, "Conventional currency will not matter."
During the interview, Musk also reflected on his chainsaw-wielding time with the Department of Government Efficiency, admitting he got "carried away."
"I think I should have been more in the background and probably only had it last for a month or two, because at that point you've sort of seen most of what there is to see," Musk told Isaacson.
Musk said he should have left and "focused on AI a little sooner than I did."
Outage shows danger of growing reliance on small number of big companies for our digital infrastructure, say experts
It happened again. A power outage hit a datacentre in London, and things cascaded from there: multiple banking services faltered, court hearings were put on hold and patients reported temporary glitches on the NHS app.
The datacentre in question was in Google’s europe-west2-b zone, one of over a dozen “zones” that the US search giant maintains in Europe to service its clients.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Google Handout/EPA
© Photograph: Google Handout/EPA
© Photograph: Google Handout/EPA
Some of the world’s leading names in space exploration are heading to Coimbra later this month for a two-day summit covering everything from lunar science and the search for another
The post NASA and ESA experts head to Coimbra for international space summit appeared first on Portugal Resident.
NEW YORK – WhatsApp users could soon give their stickers a voice as Meta-owned messaging platform develops new feature that will allow people to attach audio clips to images and animated stickers, bringing fresh twist to everyday conversations.
The upcoming sound stickers feature is under development for Android, with details emerging from beta versions 2.26.41.3 and 2.26.41.11. If rolled out widely, it could let users go beyond conventional stickers by combining visual reactions with their own voices or other short audio recordings.
Unlike regular stickers, which rely on pictures and animations to express emotions, sound stickers will reportedly allow users to attach audio directly to their creations. The development builds on WhatsApp’s existing sticker tools, which already support ready-made sticker packs and custom designs made from personal photos and videos.
According to details revealed during testing, WhatsApp is introducing a dedicated sound-wave icon in the sticker creation toolbar for image-based stickers. Tapping the icon will reportedly give users two options: record their own voice or select an existing audio file from their phone’s storage. Audio clips will be limited to 10 seconds, while longer recordings can be trimmed before being attached to a sticker.
The feature could make stickers more expressive, allowing users to pair an image with a spoken reaction, a short message or another suitable sound instead of relying entirely on text and emojis.
WhatsApp is also working on sound integration for animated stickers created from videos. Under the functionality currently being tested, the app will automatically attach five seconds of audio from the original video. Users will reportedly be able to replace that sound with a personal voice recording or another audio file stored on their device.
This would allow animated stickers to carry a short audio element from the source video, potentially making shared reactions more engaging.
Despite the added audio functionality, WhatsApp is reportedly designing the feature to give recipients control over playback. Sent stickers will display a speaker or volume icon, which users must tap to hear the attached sound. Audio will not play automatically when the sticker appears in a conversation.
Playback is also expected to respect the phone’s silent or mute settings. Users will reportedly be able to mute sound stickers, and WhatsApp will remember their selected preference. Both the sticker and its attached audio are expected to remain protected by WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption.
Despite the details emerging from beta testing, sound stickers are not yet available to most beta testers, let alone the general public.
Sound stickers are not the only reported improvement in development. WhatsApp is also exploring an option to remove the white outline that currently appears around custom stickers, along with a redesigned two-line message composition box. The company has not officially announced these changes or provided a timeline for their release.
WhatsApp users can now invite anyone to join calls without an account
The post WhatsApp Audio Stickers to let Users Add Voice to Pictures in Next Update appeared first on Daily Pakistan English News.
As SpaceX impacts Ukraine and AI-generated music divides artists and fans, critics are asking what happens when technology has too much control over our lives
This was originally published in TechScape, a newsletter about how technology shapes our lives. Sign up to receive it here
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian, writing to you while sitting in front of Roy Lichtenstein’s monumental Drowning Girl, on view in New York City. Today in tech, we’re discussing the perils of Elon Musk’s one-man global infrastructure, AI-generated music and a Guardian AI conference in Paris.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
© Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
© Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
A pilot project using surveillance sensors and AI-equipped drones to prevent and combat fires aims to reach a potential fire within 10 minutes, the government said today. “It’s a faster
The post Pilot project underway to direct drone swarms to wildfires within 10 minutes appeared first on Portugal Resident.
Around 180 rectors and decision-makers from Europe’s leading science and technology institutions are meeting in Lisbon this week to discuss how scientific research can transform countries’ technological and industrial capabilities.
The post Leading EU science, tech institutions meet in Lisbon this week appeared first on Portugal Resident.
Low-cost broadband provider Jio Platforms aims for £81bn valuation when it floats on the stock market on Wednesday
India’s second-richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is launching what could be the country’s biggest-ever initial public offering (IPO), despite a stock market downturn.
Mumbai-based Jio Platforms, a telecoms company backed by Meta Platforms and Google, is hoping to raise up to 302bn rupees (£2.4bn) and is targeting a 10.3tn rupees valuation when it floats on the stock market from Wednesday.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
© Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
© Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
The funding, announced on Monday, 19 October, will come from the EU Innovation Fund, which uses revenues generated by the Emissions Trading System to support investment in technologies intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The selected projects include manufacturing facilities, renewable energy installations, advanced energy storage, critical raw materials processing and industrial carbon management. For the first time, the programme also includes a small modular nuclear reactor project and a direct air carbon capture and storage initiative.
The announcement comes amid growing concern over Europe’s industrial competitiveness, particularly as manufacturers face high energy costs, increasing competition from China and difficulties securing investment for major industrial projects.
According to the Commission’s announcement, the 77 selected projects span energy-intensive industries, clean technology manufacturing, alternative fuels, transport and several other sectors.
Six projects concern critical raw materials, an area in which the EU has been seeking to reduce its exposure to foreign suppliers.
These investments are intended to strengthen European supply chains for technologies including batteries, renewable energy equipment and permanent magnets, which are essential components in electric motors and other industrial applications.
The funding follows renewed political pressure to expand the processing and production of strategically important materials inside Europe.
As EU Today recently reported, the European Parliament has been pressing for stronger measures to reduce dependence on China for critical raw materials used by European manufacturers.
China occupies a dominant position in several international processing and refining markets, leaving European companies exposed to supply interruptions and trade restrictions.
The Commission is seeking to support alternative production capacity through financial assistance, industrial regulation and measures designed to attract private capital.
However, the selection of projects for EU funding does not automatically mean that the proposed facilities will be built. Their implementation will still depend on financing agreements, regulatory approvals and commercial decisions.
The inclusion of a small modular nuclear reactor project represents a new development in the Innovation Fund’s portfolio.
Small modular reactors are designed to produce electricity or industrial heat using nuclear technology on a smaller scale than conventional nuclear power stations.
Supporters argue that modular construction could reduce certain project risks and provide stable electricity supplies for energy-intensive industries.
However, the technology faces substantial challenges involving construction costs, regulatory approval, supply chains and the transition from demonstration projects to commercial production.
The Commission published a European strategy for small modular reactors in March, outlining plans to accelerate their development and support the first operational facilities in the early 2030s.
The latest funding decision gives the technology access to a financial instrument principally associated with industrial decarbonisation and clean energy investment.
Another newly represented technology is direct air carbon capture and storage, which involves extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it.
Both technologies remain at comparatively early stages of commercial deployment in Europe, making their eventual costs and performance important considerations.
The Innovation Fund is financed through revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System, under which companies operating in covered sectors must obtain allowances for their greenhouse gas emissions.
Part of the revenue generated from auctioning allowances is reinvested into projects designed to introduce lower-emission technologies into industrial production.
The Commission estimates that the 77 newly selected projects could avoid approximately 290 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions during their first ten years of operation.
That figure is a projection based on the projects’ anticipated performance, rather than an achieved reduction. Actual results will depend on construction, commissioning and subsequent commercial operation.
The funding announcement also follows the publication of the EU’s broader industrial policy initiatives, which seek to increase domestic production of clean technologies and improve investment conditions for European manufacturers.
The Commission announced a separate allocation of more than €390 million to 135 environmental and climate projects under the LIFE programme on the same day. That funding is distinct from the €3.4 billion Innovation Fund selection.
The companies and organisations behind the selected Innovation Fund projects must now complete the procedures necessary to obtain their grants.
During the Commission’s 19 October press briefing, officials indicated that project-specific grant amounts would become available when the agreements are signed, currently envisaged for the first quarter of 2027.
The final allocations and implementation conditions therefore remain subject to the grant preparation process.
For industrial companies, the principal test will be whether the European funding attracts sufficient additional investment to bring the selected technologies into commercial operation.
The results will also provide an indication of how effectively Brussels can translate its industrial policy objectives into additional European manufacturing capacity, particularly in sectors where supply chains remain concentrated outside the Union.
Login