Tesla Inc. (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has some thoughts about what makes AI tick, and more importantly, what keeps it from going off the rails. In an interview with Indian entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath on Sunday, Musk laid out his framework for developing artificial intelligence that won't turn into a sci-fi nightmare.

The Three Pillars of Safe AI

"Truth and beauty and curiosity. I think those are the three most important things for AI," Musk explained. It's a surprisingly philosophical take from someone known for launching cars into space and posting memes on social media.

But Musk isn't just waxing poetic here. He's genuinely worried about what happens when you mess with these principles. "In my opinion, it's really important that AI have pursuing truth as the most important thing," he said, warning that companies shouldn't force AI to believe "falsehoods." He added that "appreciation of beauty" is also critical for AI models.

The stakes, according to Musk, are pretty high. "There's some danger when you create powerful technology; the technology can be potentially destructive," he said when asked about AI risks. Musk went further, suggesting that humanity wasn't "guaranteed" to have "a positive future" with AI.

Here's where it gets interesting: "AI can go insane" if it is forced to believe falsehoods, Musk warned. "Don't force an AI to lie," he said, citing author Arthur C. Clarke's novel '2001: A Space Odyssey.' If you've seen the movie, you know that HAL 9000's conflicting directives didn't exactly end well for the crew.

When Your Companies Start Working Together

Musk also sees AI as the connective tissue between his various business ventures. He described AI as a "confluence of Tesla expertise and SpaceX expertise," which makes sense when you think about it. Tesla is pushing the boundaries of self-driving technology, while SpaceX is launching satellites and rockets.

Musk called Tesla "the world leader in real-world AI," highlighting the automaker's progress with self-driving technology, which has recently garnered praise for its improvements. The company's Full Self-Driving system processes real-world data at massive scale.

And those space-based AI datacenters Musk keeps talking about? He's still all-in on that idea. Musk doubled down on his ambition of having solar-powered AI satellites in deep space, adding that humanity would need those satellites to "harness a non-trivial amount of the energy of the sun." He's argued that orbital datacenters are a more cost-effective solution than ground-based counterparts on Earth.

Market Movement

TSLA surged 0.84% to $430.17 at market close on Friday. It also recorded a slight surge of 0.01% to $430.20 in the after-hours session.