If Elon Musk is at the heart of the AI war, it is above all because he plays on every board at once, and often in contradiction with himself. A fierce defender of free speech, he has turned X into an ideological battlefield where content moderation shifts with his moods and political pressure. A fervent opponent of public funding, he has nonetheless built part of his empire on government contracts, whether the $15bn from NASA for SpaceX or the $10bn in carbon credits for Tesla.

But the ultimate paradox may lie in his new position within the Trump government. At the head of DOGE, Musk has never been so close to power, with privileged access to public finances and regulatory decisions. A key role that lets him directly influence sectors where he has colossal interests:

• Tesla 🇺🇸, dependent on subsidies and regulation of electric vehicles.
• SpaceX 🇺🇸, which lives largely off NASA and Pentagon contracts.
• Neuralink 🇺🇸, which could benefit from looser regulation to speed up human trials.
• X 🇺🇸, which could benefit from deregulation of payments to launch its super app.
• xAI 🇺🇸, whose future will largely depend on the next moves of OpenAI 🇺🇸.

And that is without counting Trump’s announcement that he will relaunch space exploration, with Mars in his sights. For Musk, who dreams of colonising the red planet, it means SpaceX could end up in an absolute monopoly position on the next exploration missions. In other words, in a few months, he has gone from being the richest man in the world to an unofficial statesman, able to steer budgets and strategic decisions to serve his own ambitions.

And what if it all went wrong?

Between overwhelmed regulators who could become even more powerless, shifting alliances and an unpredictable Musk, the risk is gigantic.

Because if, in a few months, Nadella, Zuckerberg and Bezos have turned their coats to get Trumpified, a movement the other way could happen too. But above all, within the Republican party itself, Musk has become the most divisive figure. Even more than Trump himself.

Behind all this, it is not just a race for AI, it is even more than a race for AGI: it is possibly a race towards a technological singularity. Those who get there first:

• Will make their mark on the History of Humanity;
• Will be at the head of the most powerful technology ever invented.

Because they always say that what rules the world is money, fame and power (and sex too). These four are already rich and famous. What is at stake here goes beyond power, and beyond posterity.

It is impossible to make the slightest prediction. In just one month, so much has already happened. This week alone I had to add dozens of pieces of news, and update every day. How can anyone imagine where we will be in 4 years, at the end of Trump’s term?

Especially with a Musk more volatile than a shitcoin in a bull run.
Everything can flip in a single tweet.

My name is Benjamin Charles, and I advise finance, real estate and web3 companies on branding, positioning and content creation.

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