Elon Musk was photographed touring a newly constructed Tesla gigafactory in Texas, accompanied by one of his 11 children. During this visit, he met with Hungarian President Katalin Novak to discuss the global demographic crisis.
The billionaire, who is also the owner of X (formerly known as Twitter), held his meeting with the Hungarian politician in Austin, as he had been unable to attend the biannual Demographic Summit in Budapest the previous week, where discussions on population decline were taking place.
Musk was captured in pictures with his son X Æ A-12, affectionately referred to as X, on his shoulders as he gave Novak a tour of the gigafactory. Following the tour, they convened in private to discuss the significance of encouraging people to have children.
After their meeting, Musk took to his platform X to express: "Having children is saving the world."
Novak echoed this sentiment in a Facebook post, referring to Musk as an "ally" in the battle for family freedom. She summarised their discussion as focusing on ways to inspire young people to embrace parenthood, emphasising that the declining birthrate is a major concern of our time.
Hungary, governed by the national-conservative party Fidesz, has implemented a range of "pro-family" policies to address its declining population of 9.6 million. Initiatives include a housing program for young married couples introduced in 2015 and a lifelong tax exemption for women with four or more children, which was enacted in 2019.
Musk had initially planned to attend the Demographic Summit in Budapest this month before his meeting with Novak. The summit attracted prominent figures such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian commentator Jordan Peterson, and Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman.
The Demographic Summit, first launched in 2015, is organised by the Hungarian government in collaboration with the UN's Population Fund (UNFPA) and various international organisations. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban emphasised the need for a shift in political direction during the conference on September 16, advocating for family-friendly and conservative leadership in European countries.
Also Read
Apple iPhone 15's USB-C port will be able to charge Apple Watch and AirPods