Elon Musk, the US billionaire, said on Monday that all the companies he founded or ran were "philanthropy" because they sought to create a better future for mankind.

Mr Musk made the comments in a video interview with Chris Anderson, the organizer of the TED conference, released on Monday.

When Anderson asked him what he thought of billionaire philanthropy, Musk said: "it's extremely difficult to do charity if you care about the good reality, not how it feels." "

He added: "SpaceX, Tesla, Inc., Neuralink and Boring Company are all charities. If you say that charity is love for human beings, then they are charity. "

Although philanthropy (philanthropy) has been associated with generous donations from the very rich, the Greek word means "love for mankind".

Mr Musk said Tesla, Inc. was "accelerating the development of sustainable energy", while his space exploration company SpaceX was seeking to "ensure the long-term survival of mankind as a multi-planetary species".

At the same time, his brain chip company Neuralink is trying to "use artificial intelligence to help solve the risk of brain damage and survival," and tunnel digging company Boring Company "is trying to solve traffic problems, which is hell for most people, and this is also love for human beings," Musk said.

This is not the first time Mr Musk has said he thinks direct donation is a waste of time. "if you care about the reality of doing good rather than the feeling of doing good, it's hard to donate effectively," he said in an interview with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Dopfner last month. I care about reality. Screw the feelings. "