Technology

Elon Musk warns: AI is like summoning the demon.

At MIT he compared the engineers to the man with the pentagram. Holy water. Until it all goes wrong.

The Rocket News · Technology · Cambridge / AustinSeptember 15, 2026 · 4 min read

Elon Musk, hands together, on stage, full color. Photograph supplied by the editor. Portada plate, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026.

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla, has once again raised alarms about artificial intelligence. Speaking at MIT, he dropped a line that sounded more like a horror script than a tech keynote: “With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon.” Musk compared engineers to the character who draws a pentagram, trusts holy water, and believes he can control the demon… until it all goes wrong.

This isn’t his first warning. Musk has previously said AI is “more dangerous than nuclear weapons” and urged governments to step in before technology becomes humanity’s greatest existential threat. This month he wrote “Dario is right,” backing Anthropic’s call to slow the frontier. On Sunday he reshared the old alarm: he has been sounding it a long time.

With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon.

Video

Tesla's Elon Musk: We're 'Summoning the Demon' with Artificial Intelligence · Bloomberg Originals · Watch on Bloomberg Originals

Rocket takeaway: When the man building rockets and electric cars talks about digital demons, it’s not a throwaway metaphor. It’s a warning. In a world chasing AI like the latest trend, Musk reminds us we may be playing with fire—without an extinguisher.

Wire and further reading: cnet.com

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