Elon Musk predicted the future of the world in uncovered 1998 interview

  • Elon Musk has long been a fan of making bold and outrageous predictions.
  • What’s more, they tend to come true.
  • Footage of him predicting the future of the internet in 1998 has emerged, and it’s scarily accurate.

Published on May 07, 2024 at 3:15 PM (UTC+4)
by Andie Reeves

Last updated on May 07, 2024 at 3:15 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Tom Wood

Elon Musk predicted the future of the world in uncovered 1998 interview

Elon Musk has always been a visionary, it seems.

A video interview with him from the 90s has emerged where he shares his thoughts about a new and mysterious new technology called ‘the internet’.

While many thought it would be a passing fad or just of use to tech nerds, Musk knew better.

And the future he predicted back then is exactly the world we live in today.

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Elon Musk has long been a fan of making bold and outrageous predictions.

What’s more, they tend to come true.

Take the ‘master plans‘ he has written for Tesla, which outline his goals such as to create autonomous driving systems and to invent a new kind of pickup truck.

Considering all Teslas now come with Full Self-Driving installed and the release of the Cybertruck, his predictions have proven to be pretty accurate.

He’s also spearheading the endeavor for humans to travel to Mars and has plans to release a flying car.

While these plans certainly sound far-fetched, it’s clear he has a gift for guessing what the future holds.

In 1998 27-year-old Elon Musk was interviewed by CBS Sunday Morning about his startup and his thoughts on the future of technology.

Musk had just co-founded Zip2, a software company that provided online city guides for local businesses.

Now this doesn’t sound very exciting, but it was a game-changer when people were still using phone books and printed-out maps.

To save money, he lived in his office, which he’d chosen because his downstairs neighbors were internet service providers.

Before he was one of the richest men on Earth, Musk actually drilled a hole in the floor so he could secretly connect to his neighbor’s server.

Musk was asked what he saw as the future of the internet, which was still in its beginning stages.

“I think the internet is the superset of all media; it is the be-all and end-all of media,” he said.

He went on to predict that all media, including print, radio and television, would eventually fold into the internet.

“It’s the first two-way communication medium that is intelligent it allows consumers to choose what they want to see, when they want to see it,” Musk said.

In a world where the television schedule was set in stone and the world relied on printed newspapers for the news, this was a bold claim.

One that has undoubtedly come true.

The comments section was, naturally, full of jokes.

“Smart guy, I’m sure he will be going places,” one commenter said.

“Elon is such a down-to-Mars guy,” another said.

Whatever your opinion is of Musk, the next time he predicts something about the future we’ll be taking notes.

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Andie Reeves

Andie is a content writer from South Africa with a background in broadcasting and journalism. Starting her career in the glossy pages of Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire, Andie has a broad portfolio, covering everything from sustainability solutions to celebrity car collections. When not at her laptop Andie can be found sewing, recording her podcast, taking board games too seriously or road-tripping in her bright green Kia.