穆斯克没有放弃超级高铁，即将建五英里测试轨道

    埃伦•穆斯克最近让他的Hyperloop超级高铁项目距离成为现实又近了一步。

    这位特斯拉汽车公司创始人在上周四表示，他打算为这一极速交通系统建造测试设施。穆斯克在一条推文中称，测试用的5英里长轨道最有可能建在德克萨斯州。

    穆斯克的Hyperloop可以将乘客用安全带固定在乘坐舱中，并通过特制的管道以惊人的速度将他们送至目的地。理论上，从旧金山到洛杉矶500英里（约合800公里）的路程只需要不到半小时。

    穆斯克目前持有的产业包括包含豪华汽车公司特斯拉、私人太空飞行公司Space X和太阳能服务公司SolarCity。他在18个月前首次提出了Hyperloop的大胆设想。从那以后，他一直专注于日常工作，很少提及这个话题。

    但在周四的德克萨斯交通论坛上，穆斯克旧话重提，随后还发布了一系列推文。在一条推文中，他表示Hyperloop轨道将对其他公司和学生开放，“邀请他们测试乘坐舱。”他还考虑在学生当中举办年度“乘坐舱竞速”比赛。穆斯克并未提及这一轨道是否只作为开放的测试场地，以及他是否还会在那里试验自己的新想法。

    除了讨论Hyperloop，穆斯克还表示他已经向生命未来研究所捐赠了1000万美元，保证人工智能可以“造福人类”。他担心机器人有一天可能足够智能和独立，从而反抗人类，就像科幻小说中描绘的那样。

    在这家机构网站上的一段视频中，穆斯克表示：“与其等着这种糟糕的情况发生，然后再设法应对，不如现在就做好措施，阻止它出现。”（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    审校：任文科

    Elon Musk just brought his Hyperloop project one step closer to reality.

    The Tesla Motors founder said Thursday he intends to build a testing facility for the ultra-fast transportation system. The five-mile track would most likely be in Texas, Musk said in a tweet.

    Musk’s Hyperloop would involve strapping passengers into pods, or a train, and shooting them through a tube at warp-speed to their destination. In theory, a 500-mile trip between San Francisco and Los Angeles would take less than an hour.

    Musk, whose projects include luxury electric car company Tesla TSLA -0.43% , the private space flight company Space X, and solar power installer SolarCity SCTY -4.80% , first laid out his audacious vision for a Hyperloop 18 months ago. Since then, he’s remained mostly silent about the topic while focusing on his day jobs.

    But on Thursday Musk addressed the topic once again on stage at the Texas Transportation Forum, and then in a series of tweets. He said in a tweet that his Hyperloop track would be open to other companies and students “to test out their pods.” He also mused about holding an annual student “pod racer” competition. Musk did not mention whether his track would merely serve as an open test-bed, or whether he would also try out his own ideas there.

    In addition to discussing the Hyperloop project, Musk said he had donated $10 million to the Future of Life Institute, to ensure that artificial intelligence is “beneficial to humanity.” His concern is that robots could one day be smart and independent enough to rise up against humans, like in the plot of a pulp science fiction novel.

    “It is best to prepare for, to try to prevent a negative circumstance from occurring, than to wait for it to occur and then be reactive,” Musk said in a video posted on the institute’s website.