SpaceX\u2019s IPO has made Elon Musk the world\u2019s first trillionaire, but the CEO spent the leadup to the moment espousing his belief that money won\u2019t matter one day.<\/p>\n
In a recent conversation with Peter Diamandis, an entrepreneur and executive chairman of the XPrize Foundation, Musk fleshed-out his moonshot visions for the future, which have previously included work being completely optional<\/a> and retirement becoming inapplicable<\/a>.<\/p>\n Musk said in a video clip<\/a> Diamandis uploaded to X on Thursday that in an AI-powered world where robots serve humans, \u201cAI and robots are going to make so much stuff and provide so many services that they\u2019ll run out of things to do for humans.\u201d <\/p>\n As a result, the output of goods and services will exceed the supply of money, effectively creating deflation. With cheap automated labor and no growth of the money supply because work is completed by robots instead of humans, there will be no need for currency.<\/p>\n \u201cI think money will stop being relevant at some point in the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n However, Musk\u2019s own companies have struggled to deliver on their automation promises. Though the CEO has set a goal of having 80% of Tesla\u2019s value<\/a> come from its humanoid Optimus robots, the bots have experienced multiple production delays<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s imagined future of money losing its relevance contrasts with his immense wealth gains. SpaceX\u2019s IPO has cemented Musk\u2019s status, for now, as the world\u2019s richest man, with a net worth surpassing $1.1 trillion<\/a> following SpaceX shares opening at $150 per share, boosting Musk\u2019s wealth by about $180 billion in a single day.<\/p>\n Diamandis called out the irony of Musk\u2019s obsession with a money-less society amid the CEO\u2019s own surging net worth: \u201cSo just as you\u2019re becoming a multi-trillionaire, money starts to have less value?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, pretty much,\u201d Musk replied.<\/p>\n What is Elon Musk\u2019s vision for the role of money?<\/strong><\/p>\n Musk has cited the Culture series of science fiction novels by Iain M. Banks, a self-proclaimed socialist author<\/a>, as inspiration behind his own predictions for the future. In the book series, superintelligent AI beings fill a post-scarcity world without traditional jobs. In his own vision, Musk sees \u201cuniversal high income\u201d as the solution to any concerns around scarcity, but the framework has mixed support.\u00a0<\/p>\n OpenAI CEO and Musk\u2019s rival Sam Altman once advocated for universal basic income\u2014or when citizens receive consistent and unconditional cash payments\u2014even backing a study<\/a> in 2024 that found $1,000 payments to low-income Americans reduced stress and food insecurity. However, Altman has since turned his back on the idea, instead advocating for \u201ccollective ownership,\u201d he told The Atlantic<\/a> in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, U.K. Minister for Investment Lord Jason Stockwood, who is also a longtime tech investor, told the Financial Times<\/a> earlier this year that the government is weighing introducing universal basic income<\/a> as a way to support workers in areas with high AI exposure.<\/p>\n \u201cUndoubtedly we\u2019re going to have to think really carefully about how we soft-land those industries that go away, so some sort of UBI, some sort of lifelong learning mechanism as well so people can retrain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Though Musk anticipates widespread automation in the next decade or two, economists are skeptical about how pervasive and fast these labor and policy shifts will be. Ioana Marinescu, an economist and associate professor of public policy at the University of Pennsylvania, has studied universal basic income as a pragmatic way to address AI-related job displacement, especially as unemployment insurance benefits are contingent upon evidence of previous employment, which may be challenging for young people trying to enter the workforce while also particularly vulnerable to AI displacement<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, the benefits of universal basic income are limited for low-income individuals, many of whom are able to only increase spending modestly, as they are saddled with debt or poverty traps.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the ultrawealthy like Musk may advocate for some form of universal income, they may be unwilling to pay taxes on their wealth to pay for it, Marinescu said, raising questions about the transition from how wealth is distributed today to how it is created and shared in Musk\u2019s predicted world.<\/p>\n