Two days back Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath shook social media after dropping a teaser for the next episode of his popular WTF Podcast, which hinted at an interview with Tesla chief Elon Musk.
Just a couple of hours ago, the nearly two-hour long conversation dropped on Nikhil Kamath YouTube channel titled ‘Elon Musk: A Different Conversation w/ Nikhil Kamath’. At time of writing, the video had amassed over 1,53,750 views, over 40,000 likes and more than 3,850 comments.
The description promised “a long conversation with Elon Musk about work, consciousness, family, money, AI and how the future might unfold”. Here's some of the things the two businessmen discussed:
What makes a company worth investing in?
Nikhil Kamath asked Elon Musk his philosophy on investing and what makes him think that a company is a good long-term bet. To this, the world's richest man felt that asking yourself a few key questions is important.
“If it's long-term for a company, then you can say, like, “Do you like the products or services of that company? Do you like the product roadmap? Does it seem like they make great products and they're likely to make great products in the future?” If that's the case, then I would say that's probably a good company to invest in,” Elon Musk said.
He added, “I (also) think you also want to believe in the team. So, if you're like, “Well, that's a talented and hardworking team, they make good products today, they seem to be still motivated to make things in the future.” Then I'd say that's a good company to invest in.”
He feels that this is the “right way to invest in stocks” despite daily market fluctuations. “Because a company is just a group of people assembled to create products and services. So you have to say, “Well, how good are those products and services? Are they likely to continue to improve in the future?” If so, then you should buy the stock of that company and then don't worry too much about the daily fluctuations,” Elon Musk said.
What companies outside his own would Elon Musk invest in?
When asked about one company outside any of his own, that he would own stocks of “to meet a capitalistic end and not an altruistic one”, Elon Musk sought to distance himself from investing.
“I don't really buy stocks. I'm not like an investor, I don't look for things to invest in. I just try to build things. And then there happens to be stock of the company that I built. But I don't think about, “Should I invest in this company?” I don't have a portfolio or anything,” he said.
However, on the broader industry, he bet on artificial intelligence and robotics, and particularly singled out Google and Nvidia. “AI and robotics are gonna be very important. Google is gonna be pretty valuable in the future — they've laid the groundwork for an immense amount of value creation from an AI standpoint. (And) Nvidia is obvious at this point,” he said.
Why these sectors? Elon Musk believes that companies involved in AI, robotics, and maybe space flight are “overwhelmingly all the value”, adding, “Just the output of goods and services from AI and robotics is so high that it will dwarf everything else”.
Should kids still go to college?
Nikhil Kamath who was recently under fire for his comments calling 25-year-olds pursuing MBAs “idiots”, also asked Elon Musk his opinion on the youth pursuing college degrees. To this the technocrat said his own children want to go to college.
He said, “If you want to go to college for social reasons. Which I think is a reason to go — to be around people your own age in a learning environment. Will these skills be necessary in the future? Probably not, because we're going to be in like a post-work society. But I think, if something's of interest, it's fine to go and study that. You know, to study the arts and sciences.”
When asked if college in its current form is too generalised, especially given the changes being ushered in by AI, Elon Musk felt that learning as much as possible is important.
“I actually think it's good to take a wide range of courses at college — if you're going to go to college. I don't think you have to go to college. But I think if you do, you just try to learn as much as possible across a wide range of subjects,” he said.
Adding, “But like I said, AI and robotics is a supersonic tsunami. So, this is really going to be the most radical change that we've ever seen. When I've talked to my older children, they're pretty steeped in technology. And they agree that AI will probably make their skills unnecessary in the future, but they still want to go to college.”
Evil AI a possibility? So, how do we regulate AI?
When asked about his concerns regarding AI, viewing it from a dystopian lens and worry over where the world of AI is heading, Elon Musk felt that there is always danger when creating powerful technology.
“There's some danger when you create powerful technology that it can be potentially destructive. There's many AI dystopian novels and books, movies. So, it's not that we're guaranteed to have a positive future with AI. I think we've got to make sure of that,” he clarified.
He added that the most important thing is ensuring that AI pursues truth, can appreciate beauty, and be curious. “In my opinion, it's very important that AI have pursuing truth as the most important thing. And I think some appreciation of beauty is important. Truth and beauty and curiosity. Those are the three most important things for AI,” he said.
Why these three? According to Elon Musk, believing falsehoods can drive AI insane and will lead to conclusions that are also bad. He quoted Voltaire's statement, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities”, warning that this can potentially happen with AI.
“If you simply don't have a strict adherence to the truth, and you just have AI learn based on the Internet, where there's a lot of propaganda, it will absorb a lot of lies. And then have trouble reasoning because these lies are incompatible with reality,” he added.
On appreciation for beauty and having curiosity, Elon Musk added that these features are important so that AI wants to be helpful in supporting humanity and working towards humanity's prosperity and continuance. “So, I think if AI values truth, beauty, and curiosity, you're going to have a great future,” he believes.
Elon Musk's advice for entrepreneurs in India
Nikhil Kamath also asked Elon Musk for a message to the young entrepreneurs in India who want to build. To whom his key advice was: “Be a net contributor to society.”
“It's best to pursue providing useful products and services. If you do that, then money will come as a natural consequence of that, as opposed to pursuing money directly. It sounds very obvious... but, if somebody's trying to make a company work, they should expect to grind super hard, accept that there's some meaningful chance of failure, but just be focused on having the output be worth more than the input. That are you a value creator — that's what really matters. Making more than you take,” he ended.
WATCH: Elon Musk's full conversation with Nikhil Kamath here