According to Fortune, in a conversation this week with Peter Diamandis, chairman of the XPrize Foundation, Musk shared his vision for the future. He believes that AI and robots will produce so many goods and provide so many services that there will be an abundance, surpassing the supply of money, which will lead to deflation. With a low-cost automated workforce and a stagnant money supply due to work being done by robots instead of humans, money will become unnecessary.
“I think at some point in the future, money will no longer matter,” Musk said.
Nonetheless, Musk currently possesses a massive fortune after his aerospace company, SpaceX, went public on June 11 with a share price of 135 USD. SpaceX shares surged nearly 20% during the initial trading session, reaching almost 161 USD, raising the company’s market capitalization to 2.110 trillion USD, making it the sixth largest company in the U.S. Consequently, Musk’s wealth also increased by 61 billion USD to 1.100 trillion USD, according to Forbes. The magazine declared on June 12 that he is the first person in the world to possess a trillion-dollar fortune.
Diamandis pointed out the irony of Musk dreaming of a moneyless society while his wealth skyrockets: “So just as you become a trillionaire, money starts to lose its value?” The world’s richest person simply replied, “Yes, almost.”
Musk further explained that this figure only represents his ownership stake in the companies he founded, not the money in his bank account. He stated, “It’s just that I own a part of the company. Those companies are creating many useful things, and their value is increasing.”
Billionaire Elon Musk attended President Trump’s address to Congress at the Capitol Hill on March 4, 2025. Photo: AFP
Earlier, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Davos, Switzerland, in January, Musk stated that in the future, the world will have billions of robots assisting with various tasks, including childcare and elder care. “My prediction is that the number of robots will exceed the number of humans,” Musk said. He also noted that future economic output will be determined by productivity multiplied by the enormous number of robots, not limited by human labor. Therefore, the scale of production that robots can achieve will reach unprecedented levels.
The billionaire also believes that robots and AI are the pathways to prosperity for the world. “People often talk about solving global poverty, or how to ensure everyone has a high standard of living. I think the only way to achieve this is through AI and robots,” he said.
Musk’s companies are working toward the goal of developing AI and robots. In January of this year, Musk announced the halting of production for two electric vehicle models, the Model X and Model S, from Tesla. The factory currently producing these models in Fremont, California, will shift to manufacturing the humanoid robot Optimus.
After announcing Optimus in 2021, Tesla unveiled the first prototype in 2022, standing 173 cm tall and weighing 57 kg, equipped with a screen on its face to display information. Musk has repeatedly emphasized that Optimus will be the “greatest product of all time,” believing that this robot, along with self-driving cars, will usher in “a world without poverty.” Tesla plans to begin production of Optimus in the latter half of this year and commercialize it in 2027.
Earlier this year, SpaceX also announced plans to launch a million satellites to create a data center, enabling it to bypass limitations of the underground power grid. This cluster will utilize solar power to run AI computing hardware. According to Musk, solar panels in orbit can generate five times more electricity than those on the ground, which are hindered by the atmosphere.
Thu Thao compiled.
