Elon Musk
Elon Musk says money will not matter 2036—Here's why
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has made a bold prediction about the future of the global economy, saying that money could become largely irrelevant by 2036 as artificial intelligence and robots produce an abundance of goods and services.
Speaking during a recent podcast appearance, Musk argued that advances in AI and robotics could create a world where material scarcity no longer exists, reducing the need for money as a medium of exchange.
"What do you want money for? You want money for goods and services, right? You want money for food, housing, transport, entertainment," Musk said.
"Well, if that is so abundant that the robots and AI are providing more goods and services than any human could possibly consume, what do you need money for in that case?" he added.
Musk's prediction received support from billionaire investor Vinod Khosla, who agreed with the vision but said its realization would depend on political decisions.
I'd modify @elonmusk prediction that by 2036 "Money won’t matter in 2036," as Musk said to The Economist by adding "only if the politics permits this great abundance" as explained at https://t.co/dxJMT5xmJq.
— Vinod Khosla (@vkhosla) July 26, 2026
Reporting: https://t.co/50p6HhPP1j
In a post on X, Khosla wrote: "I'd modify @elonmusk prediction that by 2036 'Money won't matter in 2036,' as Musk said to The Economist, by adding 'only if the politics permits this great abundance.'"
The comments echo Musk's earlier remarks that rapid advances in artificial intelligence could fundamentally reshape employment, retirement and the broader economy.
In a resurfaced interview on the Moonshots with Peter Diamandis podcast, quoted by Yahoo Finance, Musk said people may no longer need to save aggressively for retirement because AI-driven productivity would dramatically lower the cost of goods and services.
"Don't worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years," Musk said. "It won't matter."
He also predicted that AI would soon outperform humans across a wide range of tasks.
"Anything short of shaping atoms, AI can do probably half or more of those jobs right now," Musk said. "I'm confident by the year 2030, AI will exceed the intelligence of all humans combined."
Musk further argued that future economic growth would be driven by soaring productivity rather than the expansion of the money supply.
"Let's not worry about growing the money supply," he said. "It won't matter because the output of goods and services actually will grow faster than the money supply."
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