Elon Musk's recent actions have led to heavy criticism from key members of the Royal Society, with Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton directly calling out the richest man in the world on social media.
Geoffrey Hinton, otherwise known as the 'godfather of AI', has expressed countless concerns surrounding the future of advanced technology. He has expressed worries that AI development will 'widen the wealth gap' and provide a 'fertile ground for fascism', while also indicating that technology could wipe out humanity in the next 30 years.
Beyond this, the Nobel Prize winner has now set his sights on Elon Musk - particularly in reference to his position alongside Hinton and other leading scientists in the Royal Society, which is the oldest continuously existing scientific academy in the world.
Musk earned his fellowship within the Royal Society in 2018 through his work in the space and electric vehicle industries, as reported by The Guardian, yet his recent actions have led to two resignations from the organization and an open letter signed by over 3,400 members of the scientific community asking for action.
Advert
"I think Elon Musk should be expelled from the British Royal Society," outlined Hinton in a statement on X. "Not because he peddles conspiracy theories and makes Nazi salutes, but because of the huge damage he is doing to scientific institutions in the US. Now let's see if he really believes in free speech."
The 'huge damage' that Hinton indicates is likely in reference to the work that Musk's new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has conducted, which involves the revoking of funding for various areas of science across America, as they are deemed 'wasteful' and 'inefficient'.
Many members have pointed out that Musk has repeatedly breached the Society's strict Code of Conduct, easily pointing towards multiple sections that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO does not adhere to.
For example, the Code of Conduct indicates that fellows must follow principles that include "selflessness, integrity, objectivity, openness, honesty and leadership," and also outlines that they "must still strive to uphold the reputation of the Society and those who work in it, and be mindful that what is said or stated in a personal capacity could still impact the Society."
In addition, as Hinton points out the removal of funding from key scientific institutions appears to be in direct conflict of the Society's mission, yet following a meeting of the fellowship, Musk's fellowship seemingly remained intact.
"Any issues raised in repsect of individual fellows are dealt with in strict confidence," outlined a spokesperson of the Society, and Stephen Curry - who organized the open letter calling for Musk's removal isn't too happy with the result:
"It's still not clear from their statement whether they stand by their code of conduct or whether they feel that they are ever going to enforce it," questioned Curry, adding that "I think one of the things that this episode really exposed is that the Royal Society claims to speak for the scientific community, but they're not very good at speaking to the scientific community."
Musk himself directly responded to Hinton's call-out on X, illustrating:
"Only craven, insecure fools care about awards and memberships. History is the actual judge, always and forever. Your comments above are carelessly ignorant, cruel and false. That said, what specific actions require correction? I will make mistakes, but endeavor to fix them fast."
At the time of writing Hinton has not responded to this, but you could infer from Musk's words that perhaps he's not too bothered about holding a Royal Society fellowship in the first place.