“Money will disappear”: Musk on an AI-driven future

• Elon Musk predicts money and wages could lose meaning as AI and robots dominate work.
• Critics say the vision raises unresolved questions about justice, ownership, and resource distribution.

US billionaire Elon Musk has sparked widespread debate after predicting that money itself could disappear as a concept in the coming decades, as AI and robotics come to dominate the global labor market.

Speaking on the People by WTF podcast, the Tesla and SpaceX founder said that “money will honestly disappear”, arguing that its role as a tool to organize labor and distribute resources would fade once machines can meet nearly all human needs.

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Musk said that in such a future, AI and robots would be capable of building homes, growing food, manufacturing goods, and providing services such as health care and education at near-zero cost. In that scenario, he argued, wages, including high incomes, would lose their value, and there would be no need for a traditional salary-based system to determine who gets what.

Work becomes optional

Work itself could become optional within a relatively short timeframe, according to Musk.

He said rapid advances in AI could turn jobs into hobbies rather than a primary means of survival within 10–20 years, as machines outperform humans across most economic activities.

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Musk has expressed similar views in the past, repeatedly warning that artificial intelligence “will be able to do everything”. He has said this shift would fundamentally reshape ideas of employment, ownership, and the allocation of scarce resources such as premium housing or desirable locations.

Big questions remain unanswered

Despite the optimistic tone of Musk’s vision, critics say it leaves critical questions unresolved.

Among the most pressing issues are who would control and distribute limited resources, and how social justice and equality could be ensured in a world without jobs or wages. Skeptics also note that technological progress has not historically led to less work.

In 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes famously predicted that people would work 15 hours a week by 2030 due to productivity gains. Instead, productivity increased without a corresponding expansion in leisure time, underscoring concerns that automation alone doesn't guarantee a more equitable or work-free society.

Musk’s comments have reignited debate over whether AI will usher in a post-scarcity era, or deepen existing inequalities without robust political and economic safeguards.