Elon Musk is a powerhouse in the tech world.

But the man behind Tesla (TSLA), SpaceX and the Hyperloop is worried that technology could be a threat to the human race.

So he’s putting his money into protecting us.

Musk donating $10 million to the Future of Life institute, which will use the money to do research on how to keep artificial intelligence (AI) beneficial to humanity.

Musk points to a letter from AI researchers who say AI safety is important.

Not such a wild idea, according to Yahoo Finance’s Jeff Macke, who doesn’t think Musk has simply been watching too many Transformer and Terminator movies.

“It’s so crazy it’s smart, and vice-versa,” he argues. “He has a point here-- there is that threat of artificial intelligence. He’s not alone on this. Stephen Hawking and other guys with big, huge brains have been concerned about this as well.”

However, Macke points out this donation pales in comparison to the financial reasons to make technology even smarter.

“I don’t know if $10 million is going to cut it when the incentives for creating artificial technology are simply capitalism. There’s so much money to be made when you simply automate everything. Maybe we should program our overlords to be as benign as possible.”

Yahoo Finance Editor in Chief Aaron Task is onboard with that.

“I for one welcome our new robot overlords,” he jokes. “Look, I’ve seen the Terminator movies and I’m sure Elon Musk has and all the science fiction. It is something to be concerned about.”

However, Task questions whether Musk should be using his money on other priorities.

“There’s a front page story in the New York Times about a potential massive extinction in the world’s oceans,” he notes. “I think that is more of a threat to humanity right now than artificial intelligence. And I do wonder if this is a little bit misplacing of those funds.”

Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App

Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli says looking at what might happen in the future fits Musk’s modus operandi completely:

“This is perfectly in line with the brand of Elon Musk,” he says. “He’s the guy figuring things out years before the rest of humanity does.”

Santoli points out that Musk prides himself on being on the cutting edge, and he wonders if the billionaire entrepreneur could have an ulterior motive in taking on AI.

“For all we know, he wants to dampen the movement toward AI because he’s got a new startup he wants to take public that’s actually going to own the market,” he says. So who knows?”

Santoli feels it's good to kick these ideas around…even if they do portend doomsday for the species.