You give them too much fucking credit. The rich are an entire class of people who don't know how to take "No" for an answer, they'll just burn every last drop of fossil fuel in pursuit of... something? and then say "oopsie doodles" when it's all gone and they still haven't gotten fusion off the ground.
Going out on a limb here: Is AI really an efficiency and productivity increasing device if we have to *checks notes... have an energy breakthrough to be able to functionally use it?
It sounds to me like rich people are admitting it actually takes more resources to support AI than it does fucking workers who already exist and don't need a fucking energy breakthrough to function.
"There's no way to get there without a breakthrough," he said. "It motivates us to go invest more in fusion."
He gets invited to these Illuminati meetings and says that? Anyone not living under a rock knows the whole world needs an energy breakthrough. Half them believe we need it to save the planet and the other half want it so they can build bigger things. When have we ever not needed an energy breakthrough?