During a recent virtual appearance to accept Forbes’ top innovator award, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk delivered a wide-ranging interview packed with news.

From seemingly confirming an imminent SpaceX initial public offering to detailing the sci-fi future of orbital computing, Musk outlined a roadmap for the next decade of human advancement. 

The SpaceX Quiet Period

Following up on recent rumors of a potential IPO, the Forbes interviewer asked Musk directly whether SpaceX was preparing to file its S-1 paperwork this week. An S-1 is the foundational document required for a company to go public in the United States. 

Musk offered a telling deflection. “I’m not allowed to comment on these things,” Musk stated. “Like a quiet period or something to that effect.” 

Executives only observe legally mandated quiet periods when an IPO or major public filing is imminent. This adds fuel to the fire that SpaceX is actively preparing to enter the public market, as early as the next several weeks.

Expanding the TERAFAB Vision

Beyond the financial markets, Musk expanded on his solution to the challenges of powering an AI revolution on Earth. 

Musk’s proposed solution involves launching ten million tons of solar-powered AI data center satellites into orbit. By harnessing the sun’s energy without atmospheric interference, these orbital arrays could generate up to a terawatt of power per year.

Musk noted that this vision eventually scales to establishing a dedicated base on the Moon, specifically designed to manufacture and launch space-based AI chips, thereby entirely removing the terrestrial bottleneck. 

AGI and Optimus

On the terrestrial front, Musk also provided new timelines for both software and physical robotics. He predicted that artificial general intelligence will be unequivocally smarter than humans in every metric within one to two years. Looking just five years out, to 2031, he expects digital intelligence to vastly exceed the sum of all human intelligence. 

To interact with this new intelligence, Musk is planning to deploy Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot. He estimates there will be anywhere from 100 million to one billion humanoid robots walking the Earth by the end of the decade. He also believes this influx of labor will cause the global economy to double in size within five to seven years. 

Appealing the OpenAI Verdict

Finally, Musk addressed the recent legal setback in his battle against Sam Altman and OpenAI. He clarified to the audience that the judge dismissed his lawsuit on statute-of-limitations grounds rather than on the merits of his argument. 

Musk confirmed that an official appeal is already underway, warning that allowing OpenAI to convert to a for-profit entity would set a dangerous precedent.