In a familiar critique of corporate structures, Musk also weighed in on the ideal environment for fostering such long-term, existentially focused AI. He declared, “For long-term optimization, it is better to be a private than a public company, as the latter is punished for long-term optimization beyond the reward cycle of stock portfolio managers.”

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft exploded exploded on the ground last month, ahead of its 10th flight test. But now it's getting ready to go again.

A successful mission would show real progress in Starship’s reusability and overall system reliability—two things critical to SpaceX’s long-term plans.