ELON MUSK IS UPTO MORE THAN WHAT MEETS THE EYE. THE MERCURIAL TECH MAGNATE HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN VARIOUS OTHER INTERESTING ENTREPRENEURIAL PURSUITS. HERE'S WHAT THEY ARE.
Its safe to say that this guy is a visionary. Its also safe to say that SpaceX & Tesla have reinvigorated their respective industries. Its also again. safe to say that majority of people are not aware about a ton of his other startups & owned companies. So lets explore them!
SOLARCITY
Interestingly, this company was started by Elon's cousins Peter and Lyndon Rive in 2006 on an idea he gave them! At present, it is a subsidiary of Tesla Inc being acquired in 2016 for $2.6 billion all stock merger. This company has built large solar installations for giants like eBay, Walmart, Intel & even the U.S. military. They also give small solar installations on RENT for domestic use to houses in 6 US states. They have also built many solar charger station for the Tesla Roadster. They have also collaborated with Tesla to craete a Solar Roof with Musk describing it as "its not a thing on the roof, its THE roof".
THE BORING COMPANY
Quite a fancy name isn't it? This company sums it all up about Elon & his wacky ideas! Its essentially a public transportation company focused no re-inventing intra-city travel. To get a gist of what its all about watch the official video HERE. Such projects may seem outlandish right now but remember how skeptical people were when Tesla was started in 2003. One thing is for sure, this company dos reduce travel time.
OpenAI
This is a non-profit research based laboratory which was founded by Musk & a host of other entrepreneurs in 2015 with an aim to develop "human friendly AI". Its important to note that Musk resigned in 2018 as a Board of Director but still remains a donor citing conflict of interest. Whats clear is this company is focusing on AGI (artificial generated intelligence), AI which can reason & take decisions like a human mind. The acquisition of DeepMind (AGI focused company) by Google shows the growth potential of this variation of AI. However after Microsoft invested a billion dollars, many question the route this company was taking i.e. whether there was profit motive involved. I will not pretend to know something I don't know. So here's a top notch article for you to read & gain insight. (A really brilliant piece on how AGI can adversely impact the future of mankind).
FUTURE OF LIFE INSTITUTE
FLI s a non-profit research institute and outreach organization in the Boston area that works to mitigate existential risks facing humanity, particularly existential risk from advanced artificial intelligence (AI). Its founders include MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark and Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, and its board of advisors includes entrepreneur Elon Musk., (This para from WikiPedia Sorry :)
It seems like this is another AI research based NPO in which Elon is involved which highlights that he sees AI as a big part of our future. Indeed if its development is rapid and evolutionary, I can see the impact it can have on every part of our daily life.
NEURALINK
Another mind boggling (literally) venture by Elon Musk, this company focuses on developing a brain-machine interface to connect the brain with computers! Apparently it seems like the company is developing "threads" thinner than hair to transmit data and a machine that will embed them automatically. This technology will enable people who suffer from paralysis to interact with computers. The future goal as per musk is to "speed up interaction between humans & machines in ways unimagined". Seems interesting doesn't it?
MY FUTURE PREDICTIONS...
Green companies like SolarCity have a really bright future. I think issues like climate change & global warming will drive their growth just like advent of the Internet gave a boost to tech startups in the late 1990s & early 2000s.
To be honest I am am bit skeptical about the prospects of The Boring Company because although the concept is good, a dramatic & radical change in the transportation network can be very expensive, time consuming & not easily feasible. However I would not bet against the success of Musk's innovative company.
OpenAI has the potential to be a giant. It has an extremely talented & dedicated group of closely knit employees, innovative working style & a fairly open source strategy (which can also backfire). Still it has made substantial inroads in AGI(For example, it has developed a software which can write thousands of words on a topic in just a few seconds!
NeuraLink also has good tech. However, much depends on what possible uses they find for it. They will have to brainstorm hard about its potential application and implementation. This will determine whether it will boom or bust.
THIS IS ONE OF MY LONGEST ARTICLES SO FAR. I HAVE REALLY ENJOYED THE RESEARCH WORK FOR THIS EXTENSIVE ARTICLE. IT REALLY FASCINATES ME HOW PEOPLE THINK OF SUCH RADICAL & INNOVATIVE IDEAS & TRANSFORMS THEM INTO SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES.
HAVE A GOOD DAY!
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