Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s latest prediction is that the world will be “crazier” in 2024 than in the past four years. Although less than two days have passed in 2024, the shocking start has indeed confirmed his judgment. Someone asked on the social platform X on Monday (January 1): "Can we have a normal year in 2024? After four crazy years, don't we deserve this?"
But Musk responded that day: "I predict that 2024 will be even crazier." Although Musk did not explicitly predict any "crazy" events that might occur, under that tweet, people discussed a series of issues such as the US presidential election, artificial intelligence, geopolitical risks, the new crown epidemic, and immigration.
In 2023, Musk repeatedly warned that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could escalate into a nuclear war between Russia and the United States. The billionaire has been offering SpaceX's Starlink internet service to Ukraine for free, but has refused to provide the service near Crimea because of concerns that Ukraine would use Starlink to guide drone attacks on Russian warships. He explained in September that this would make his company "clearly engaged in a major act of war and escalation."
Hundreds of comments under Musk's tweet indicate that Americans believe much of this year's "craziness" will focus on the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Musk has not explicitly endorsed any candidate, but he said in November that he would not vote for President Joe Biden.
Musk, who has previously expressed his optimism for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and described Vivek Ramaswamy as a "promising candidate," added that his refusal to vote for Biden does not mean he will vote for Republican candidate Trump.
Finally, let’s take a look back at the major world events that happened in the past two days. A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the west coast of Japan on Monday, triggering a tsunami with waves at least 5 meters high, causing house collapse and a fire. According to Ishikawa Prefecture, at least 57 people were killed in the earthquake as of Tuesday evening local time. The death toll is expected to rise, with authorities dealing with more than a dozen incidents where people were trapped in collapsed homes. In addition, on Tuesday evening local time, a Japan Airlines passenger plane collided with a Coast Guard plane. The latter was originally scheduled to fly to the earthquake-stricken area in Ishikawa Prefecture to deliver supplies and was preparing to take off on the runway when the incident occurred.
On Tuesday, South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck while visiting the port city of Busan, and the assailant was arrested on the spot. Officials at the Busan receiving hospital said the injuries were not expected to be life-threatening. Lee Jae-myung went on a hunger strike for several weeks to protest against the current South Korean government.
At the same time, the Middle East has become increasingly volatile, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict risks spillover. According to reports, the United Kingdom and the United States are formulating plans to attack the Houthi armed forces in Yemen, and do not rule out the possibility of launching air strikes in the near future. Iran dispatched a warship to the Red Sea after the U.S. Navy destroyed three ships belonging to the Houthi armed forces.