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Elon Musk is putting money toward a digital renaissance of archaeology aimed at reimagining life in ancient Rome — with the potential to rewrite history books.
The Tesla CEO recently donated $1 million to the American Institute for Roman Culture (AIRC), a non-profit based in the U.S., through the Musk Foundation.
The funds support AIRC’s Ancient Rome Live platform, which is dedicated to documenting and preserving Roman heritage as part of its Expandere Conscientiae Lumen initiative.
At an Oct. 24 ceremony hosted by the AIRC, Musk said that he was especially interested in ancient Rome, per the Times of London.
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Elon Musk recently spoke publicly after donating $1 million to support research into Ancient Rome. (Win McNamee/Getty Images; Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
“I am interested in history and Rome constitutes a large part of the history of Western civilization,” said Musk.
The SpaceX founder said that AI could fill knowledge gaps by helping write “a new history book based entirely on ancient material and archaeology.”
Though the AIRC has not shared how AI plays into its projects, historical researchers have incorporated AI for tasks such as translating ancient texts, analyzing artifacts and digitally mapping ancient structures.
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In a statement earlier this year, the AIRC announced that it had received the seven-figure donation, which it said “reinforces Ancient Rome Live’s mission of fostering global understanding and appreciation of the ancient Roman world through education, research, and innovation.”
“This grant marks a pivotal moment for Ancient Rome Live,” AIRC director Darius Arya said in a statement.
“I am interested in history and Rome constitutes a large part of the history of western civilization,” said Musk. (Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)
“We are deeply honored by the Musk Foundation’s recognition of our work,” added Arya. “This is confirmation of our work and we are really excited to be the participatory organization selecting new, innovative projects in the field.”
The remarks followed years of Musk expressing interest in ancient history, especially Rome.
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Earlier in 2025, the Tesla CEO was spotted at the Colosseum and the Pantheon during his trip to the Eternal City.
In an X post in August, Musk pondered, “I wonder if Marcus Aurelius could have done more to carry Rome to greater heights or whether that was as good a job as could have been done.”
The AIRC says Musk’s grant supports its mission to expand global understanding of the ancient Roman world. (Elio Castoria/AFP via Getty Images)
In a 2023 post, Musk wrote that “[t]he main reason Rome won was because they had the best engineering.”
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Last November, the entrepreneur also remarked that the U.S. is the “New Rome.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Musk Foundation for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
Musk suggested that AI could someday write a history book based entirely on ancient material and archaeology. (Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)
This isn’t the first time AI has been used in the field of archaeology. In fact, researchers have made significant achievements in recent years by utilizing machine learning.
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Earlier this year, a group of researchers from the Netherlands, Italy and Denmark found that the Dead Sea Scrolls were older than previously thought, thanks to an AI model.
