Elon Musk says AI could end the need to save money with universal high income

Elon Musk has once again sparked debate around the future of money, noting that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) could eventually remove the need for people to save at all. 

Musk's comments came in response to a post by Ray Dalio, who revealed he was following Michael and Susan Dell in donating funds to help seed so-called Trump accounts, a new savings and investment scheme aimed at young Americans. 

“It is certainly a nice gesture of the Dells, but there will be no poverty in the future, and so no need to save money. There will be universal high income,” Musk wrote on his social platform X (formerly Twitter).

Notably, the SpaceX CEO has repeatedly argued that rapid progress in AI and robotics will eliminate most traditional jobs, fundamentally reshaping the global economy. 

In his previous public appearances, Musk suggested that machines will eventually produce goods and services at such scale and efficiency that human labour will no longer be required for survival.

However, rather than universal basic income, Musk believes society will move toward something far more expansive, where material needs are effortlessly met.

That said, he has also warned that such a future would raise deeper questions about purpose and meaning in a world where work is optional.