In Rome, a city where every corner whispers history, Elon Musk says technology can help tell the full story.
Speaking remotely from the US at an awards ceremony on Rome’s Capitoline Hill, Musk said he is helping launch a new wave of research into ancient Rome using artificial intelligence.
“I am interested in history and Rome constitutes a large part of the history of Western civilization,” Musk said at the event, as reported by The Times. He added that AI could help fill gaps in historical knowledge by creating “a new history book based entirely on ancient material and archaeology.”
Musk’s charitable foundation pledged $1 million to support projects under the Expandere Conscientiae Lumen initiative, run by the American Institute for Roman Culture. The program focuses on using technology, including AI, drones, and 3D scanning, to study sites from the Roman Empire era.
The funding will help researchers who are using digital tools to:
- Create detailed 3D models of Roman sites in Jordan.
- Trace ancient trade routes through pigment analysis at Pompeii.
- Map archaeological remains threatened by climate change and time.
Five of the winning teams are based in Italy, with others in Tunisia, Morocco, and Albania, all regions that have been influenced by ancient Roman culture.
Why Musk is investing in the past
Elon Musk’s interest in Rome is not new.
Often referring to himself as the “Imperator of Mars” and comparing his social media platform X to a “colosseum battleground,” Musk has long drawn inspiration from the imagery and ideals of the ancient world.
At the Rome ceremony, he suggested that technology could bring lost knowledge back to life, saying AI offers the power to reconstruct the stories, architecture, and experiences of past civilizations.
The Times noted that Musk’s support follows earlier contributions to the Vesuvius Challenge, an AI-driven project that successfully deciphered carbonized scrolls from Herculaneum, texts thought unreadable for nearly 2,000 years.
Experts say AI could shorten research cycles drastically and bring precision to tasks once done painstakingly by hand. According to The Times, Marta Modolo of Milan University noted that digital analysis of artifacts “could slash research time from years to months and reduce the risk of human error.”
By merging machine learning with ancient materials, researchers hope to reconstruct everything from Roman trade logistics to domestic life, allowing the public to virtually explore spaces once lost to time.
During an earnings call in October, Elon Musk expressed his desire for $1 trillion in stock options to help create an ‘enormous robot army.’