Latest Interviews
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Clear all filters- The Economist8 min
Who is Elon Musk and what drives him?
Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson, Jack Ma, Tom Standage
Elon Musk transformed his $180 million PayPal exit into dominant market positions for Tesla, which accelerated the global electric vehicle transition, and SpaceX, which now supplies the majority of global launch capacity. His 2022 $44 billion acquisition of X involved mass layoffs and controversial moderation policies that have sparked geopolitical conflict-of-interest debates regarding his influence on international relations. While critics question the risks posed by his unpredictable leadership style, Musk remains the sole operator of X and the driving force behind his companies' ambitious goals to address existential threats.
- The Economist17 min
The future of war
Tom Standage, Jennifer McArdle
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has established a new warfare paradigm where 20th-century trench dynamics merge with 21st-century drone consumption and Starlink-enabled kill chains to prioritize sensor-to-shooter speed over traditional force concentration. Concurrently, global powers like China and the United States are accelerating artificial intelligence integration and autonomous system deployment, though significant ethical debates persist regarding lethal decision-making authority amidst a projected future of unmanned overhuman dominance. While these technological shifts promise to revolutionize tactical efficiency through cyber warfare and data analytics, experts warn that the fundamental human costs of war remain severe, with complex machinery requiring human operators to sustain logistics and mitigate the psychological trauma of high casualty rates.