Musk says AI and robotics only way to solve $38 trillion US debt crisis

Elon Musk He said in a new interview that he believes artificial intelligence (AI)-powered robots that drive productivity and production gains are the only way to address the $38 trillion-plus national debt.

Musk said in an interview on the program “A Different Conversation with Nikhil Kamath” released on Sunday, that the widespread spread of… Artificial intelligence and robotics It is the only way to address the huge and growing national debt.

“I think this is the only thing that will solve the US debt crisis, because US debt is currently insanely high,” Musk said. “Interest payments on the debt exceed the entire U.S. military budget — just the interest payments, and that at least in the short term will continue to increase.”

“So I think the only thing that can solve the debt problem is artificial intelligence and robotics,” he added. “This will likely cause significant deflation because deflation or inflation is really the ratio of goods and services produced to the change in the money supply.”

The national debt exceeds $38 trillion for the first time in US history as spending rises

Musk said that because artificial intelligence and robotics could lead to a significant increase in production, they would likely lead to contraction — which is more important. Reverse inflation It leads to a decline in the price level.

“If you have artificial intelligence and robotics, and a significant increase in the production of goods and services, you will probably have deflation,” he said. “That seems likely. Because you simply will not be able to increase the money supply as quickly as you can increase the production of goods and services.”

Elon Musk predicts that work will be “optional” in the coming decades

Musk said he believes artificial intelligence will push the growth rate in the production of goods and services higher than the growth in the money supply in the next few years. (Mark Piasecki/Getty Images)

The Tesla CEO was asked about the current level of inflation, which is still high compared to the period of inflation Fed target at 2%AI has not yet boosted productivity enough to cause a downturn, he said.

He added: “Artificial intelligence has not yet had enough of an impact on productivity to increase goods and services faster than the money supply. The United States is increasing the money supply significantly with a deficit of $2 trillion, so the production of goods and services must be more than that for there to be no inflation.”

“We’re not there yet, but if you say how long it will take us to get there, I think it’s three years,” Musk added. “Maybe three years – in three years or less, I think the growth of goods and services will exceed the growth of the money supply in about three years.”

Musk predicts that “money will cease to matter in the future” as artificial intelligence and robotics advance

Musk’s Tesla company is focused on developing artificial intelligence-powered humanoid robots. (Coastphoto/norphoto via Getty Images)

the Tech billionaire He also said that he believes the spread of artificial intelligence and robotics will reshape the economy and the monetary system in general.

“I think at a certain point, you can break away from the traditional type of economy if you have artificial intelligence and productive robots Wafers and solar panels “We’re dealing with chips and robots, mining resources in order to make chips and robots,” Musk said. “You kind of complete that cycle, and once that cycle is complete, I think that’s the point at which you disconnect from the monetary system.”

Musk was asked if this was the way forward for the US to address its national debt, and the Tesla CEO replied: “In this future that I’m talking about, the idea of ​​nations becomes kind of obsolete.”

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“This is what I think is going to happen based on what I see, as opposed to these are basically good things I’m trying to achieve,” he said. “I believe this will happen without me, whether I like it or not. As long as civilization continues to advance, we will have artificial intelligence and robotics on a very large scale.”