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(CNNMoney) – There was whiskey, a joint, a Samurai sword and long conversations about artificial intelligence and the end of the universe.
Just another installment in the extraordinary saga of Elon Musk, the billionaire leader of two major companies that are trying to change the world.
The CEO of electric-car maker Tesla and rocket startup SpaceX spent more than two-and-a-half hours Thursday night talking to podcast host Joe Rogan about what it’s like inside his head (“a never-ending explosion”), keeping a car company in business (“very difficult”) and trying to get governments to regulate artificial intelligence (“nobody listened”).
Musk has come under heavy pressure in recent weeks over his botched attempt to take Tesla private and his erratic behavior. But in the interview with Rogan, which was streamed on YouTube, he appeared at ease.
The South African-born entrepreneur wielded a flamethrower, unsheathed a Samurai sword and held forth on a wide range of subjects:
Being Elon: ‘I don’t think people would like it that much’
Musk touched on the difficulties of having the kind of brain that has enabled him to build and run multiple high-tech companies at the same time.
“I don’t think you’d necessarily want to be me,” he said. “I don’t think people would like it that much.”
The inside of his head is like “a never-ending explosion” with ideas bouncing around all the time, he said, adding that he finds it “very hard” to turn his brain off.
Running Tesla is his “hardest” job, he told Rogan.
The car company has struggled to scale up production of its Model 3 sedan, which has been hit by a number of delays, intensifying the pressure on Musk.
“It’s very difficult to keep a car company alive,” he said.
Smoking weed: ‘It’s like a cup of coffee in reverse’
Musk raised eyebrows on social media after accepting what Rogan said was a joint of marijuana and tobacco and taking a puff. “I mean, it’s legal, right?” he asked.
Marijuana is legal in California, where the interview took place, but Musk’s phone later started buzzing. “I’m getting text messages from friends saying, ‘What the hell are you doing smoking weed?’” he said.
Musk explained that he’s “not a regular smoker of weed” because he “doesn’t find it’s very good for productivity.”
“It’s like a cup of coffee in reverse,” he added.
Musk already alarmed some Tesla investors by admitting in an emotional interview last month with The New York Times that he takes the prescription drug Ambien because he has difficulty sleeping.
He has denied he was smoking weed when he sent his now infamous tweet on August 7 claiming he had secured funding to take Tesla private.
Transportation: Flying cars won’t ‘make your neighbors happy’
The interview touched on one of Musk’s favorite themes: ways to revolutionize transportation.
Musk said he had come up with preliminary designs for a supersonic, electric plane that would take off and land vertically.
But he doesn’t plan to pursue the idea anytime soon, as he is too occupied with Tesla, SpaceX and other projects.
“I have a lot on my plate,” Musk said. “An electric plane isn’t important right now.”
He insisted that his plans to dig tunnels under cities to whisk commuters around in high speed pods are the best solution to traffic jams. But he expressed frustration about his efforts to build a tunnel under Los Angeles.
“Maybe it will be successful, maybe it won’t,” Musk said. The city “is a terrible place to dig tunnels,” he added. “Mostly because of paperwork.”
The tech entrepreneur ruled out the prospect of flying cars, saying they would be too noisy and impractical.
“If you get one of those toy drones and imagine it’s 1,000 times heavier – that’s not going to make your neighbors happy,” he explained.
“If you want a flying car, just put wheels on a helicopter,” he added.
Artificial intelligence: ‘If you can’t beat it, join it’
Musk said his efforts to merge the human brain with machines are making progress.
His venture Neuralink will have “something interesting” to announce in a few months that will be “an order of magnitude” ahead of what people currently think is possible, he said.
Neuralink aims to link humans to computers without a physical connection by implanting tiny electrodes into the brain.
Musk has repeatedly expressed concerns about the dangers of unrestrained development of artificial intelligence but says his push for a more cautious, regulated approach has been “futile.”
He told Rogan he thinks that merging humans with computers is the approach that “seems probably the best for us: if you can’t beat it, join it.”
Tesla in Turmoil:
Top executives are leaving Tesla, and the stock fell as much as 10%.
Tesla’s chief accounting officer has resigned less than a month after he assumed the job, the company announced. And Bloomberg reported that its chief people officer, Gaby Toledano, is not returning to the company after taking a leave of absence.
The departures add to investor concern about a company in tumult. CEO Elon Musk devised and then quickly canceled a plan to take the company private. A podcast appearance Thursday night featuring whiskey, a joint and a Samurai sword was only the latest example of Musk’s eccentric behavior.
Tesla stock has lost a third of its value since August 7, the day Musk announced the go-private plan.
Dave Morton, a former chief financial officer at Seagate, had joined Tesla on August 6 as chief accounting officer. That was the day before CEO Elon Musk tweeted he was planning to take the company private. (Musk dropped those plans less than three weeks later.)
The company said that Morton gave notice and left the company Tuesday.
“Since I joined Tesla on August 6th, the level of public attention placed on the company, as well as the pace within the company, have exceeded my expectations,” said a statement from Morton released by the company in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “As a result, this caused me to reconsider my future.
“I want to be clear that I believe strongly in Tesla, its mission, and its future prospects, and I have no disagreements with Tesla’s leadership or its financial reporting,” he added.
Toledano ran the human relations department and was one of the top executives at the company.
In addition to Morton and Toledano, the company has recently lost a number of other top executives, including Doug Field, who left his job as Tesla senior vice president of engineering earlier this summer and returned to Apple where he had previously worked.
The news of Morton’s departure was another hit to investor confidence in Tesla.
