US ‘immensely benefited’ from Indian talent: Musk

Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk said he wants to enter the Indian market with Star-link during a podcast with Indian entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath posted on Sunday, adding that the US has benefitted immensely from the immigration of Indian talent.

- Dheer Chawla

"Hopefully India. So we'd love to be operating in India. That would be great," Musk said during a long-form interview with Kamath. The conversation, uploaded as a podcast on Sunday, saw Kamath steer much of the discussion towards India, from rural internet access and urbanisation patterns to Indian talent in the US and Musk's message for young Indian entrepreneurs.

Kamath asked Musk whether India would follow China-style urbanisation, with more people moving in from rural areas to urban ones, or evolve differently as technology progresses. Musk replied cautiously, even reflecting the question back to Kamath, saying, "Isn't that the trend or is it not the trend in India?"

When Kamath noted that Covid altered some urbanisation patterns, Musk discussed how AI and robotics will change the relationship between work and cities.

"I think in the future it won't be the case that you have to be in a city for a job," he said. He went further, predicting, "My prediction is in the future working will be optional... in less than 20 years working will be optional."