Musk cancels visit to Israel but calls himself a ‘huge admirer’ of Israeli innovation

“Israel punches far above its weight” – Tech mogul Elon Mosk cancels planned trip to Israel but appears remotely at Israeli summit, lavishing praise on Israel’s tech sector.

By World Israel News Staff

Elon Musk used a remote appearance at a Tel Aviv transportation conference Monday to deliver an endorsement of Israel’s technology sector, saying the country’s innovation record far exceeds what would be expected from its size.

Speaking by video link to the Samson International Smart Mobility Summit at Expo Tel Aviv, Musk said Israel has become one of the world’s most productive centers for technological development.

“I’m a huge admirer of the innovation coming out of Israel,” Musk said. “Honestly, I think it’s objectively true that Israel punches far above its weight for population.”

“Innovation per capita, Israel must be number one by far in the world,” he added.

The Tesla, SpaceX and X owner had originally been expected to travel to Israel for the event but made a last-minute cancellation, appearing remotely instead.

The summit was organized by Israel’s Transportation Ministry and focused on artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, transportation infrastructure and the future of smart mobility. The event’s website described it as a gathering of global investors, policymakers, industry leaders and more than 100 mobility startups in what it called “the land of innovation.”

Musk’s praise for Israel framed the rest of his remarks, in which he described transportation as one of the clearest examples of how artificial intelligence is moving from research to mass deployment. He said Tesla’s self-driving system is based on cameras and AI, not radar or LiDAR, because the goal is to make cars interpret the road in a way similar to human vision.

“The Tesla full self-driving software, which is really just AI and cameras. We don’t use radars or LiDAR or anything like that,” Musk said.

He said the system is “trying to drive the car in the same way that a human drives the car,” using “a digital neural net and cameras.”

Musk predicted that AI would dominate road travel within a decade.

“My guess is, 10 years from now, probably 90% of all distance driven will be driven by the AI in a self-driving car,” he said. “It’ll be quite a niche thing in 10 years to actually be driving your own car. The car will drive you.”

Musk also said he hoped Israelis would soon be able to experience Tesla’s autonomous-driving technology directly, though he was unsure of the current regulatory status.

“I’m not sure if we have approval for this in Israel. I think we may have. We’ll get it soon hopefully, and you’ll be able to experience it for yourself,” he said.

The appearance gave Israeli officials a high-profile endorsement at a conference meant to highlight the country’s place in the global mobility industry. The summit’s agenda promoted artificial intelligence, sustainability and the changing economics of transportation, with an emphasis on Israeli startups and international collaboration.

Musk’s appearance had been in doubt until shortly before the event.

Calcalist reported a day earlier that the conference was opening at Expo Tel Aviv while it remained unclear whether Musk would arrive in person or join virtually.

The event had originally been scheduled for March but was postponed because of the war with Iran.

Musk closed part of his discussion by expanding the innovation theme beyond cars, saying Tesla vehicles are already “four-wheel robots” and predicting that humanoid robots could become far more common than people.

“My prediction is that there will be far, far more robots, like intelligent robots, in the world than there will be people,” he said. “I think this is most likely to be a good thing.”

Still, he said developers should remain cautious about advanced robotics.

“We always want to be a little paranoid,” Musk said. “We’re certainly not complacent about the safety of robots.”

Elon MuskHigh-techIsraeli innovation