Elon Musk spent years calling smarter-than-human AI a threat, and is now one of the people building it — a worrying turn for anyone who took his warnings seriously.

• Musk was an early funder of AI safety work, including a $10 million grant, and once described building superintelligence as summoning a demon.
• He changed course after concluding the race would happen without him, deciding the only way to have influence was to be one of the top players.
• His space ambitions fit the same pattern: a place to build on his own terms rather than inherit rules set by others.
• The contradiction is the story — the loudest critic of the technology is now helping push it forward faster.

Outlook: Expect Musk to keep spending heavily on AI while still warning about its dangers, with no sign anyone is slowing the race down.