Netanyahu visits Elon Musk in California to hold discussion about artificial intelligence
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is starting a U.S. trip in California to talk about technology and artificial intelligence with billionaire businessman Elon Musk.
The Israeli leader posted Monday on Musk's social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that he plans to talk with the Tesla CEO “about how we can harness the opportunities and mitigate the risks of AI for the good of civilization.”
Netanyahu's high-profile visit to the San Francisco Bay Area comes at a time when Musk is facing accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on his social media platform, while Netanyahu is confronting political opposition at home and abroad. Protesters gathered early Monday outside the Fremont, California factory where Tesla makes its cars.
The video livestream kicked off shortly before 9:30 a.m. with Netanyahu and the Tesla CEO. Netanyahu's official X account posted that he is holding a “a one on one conversation” with Musk. The two kicked off with a joke about deepfakes and quickly launched into a discussion of artificial intelligence as both a blessing and a curse for humanity.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken part in nine months of demonstrations against Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul Israel’s judicial system. Those protests have spread overseas, with groups of Israeli expats staging demonstrations during visits by Netanyahu and other members of his Cabinet.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish civil-rights organization, has accused Musk of allowing antisemitism and hate speech to spread on X, in part by amplifying the messages of neo-Nazis and white supremacists who want to ban the league by engaging with them on the platform.
In a Sept. 4 post, Musk claimed that the league was “trying to kill this platform...