Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk predicted a world of ‘zero scarcity’ due to advancements in artificial intelligence and robotics in the next 20 years. Musk, who is also currently the world’s richest man, even predicted that saving for retirement would become irrelevant or unnecessary because of the anticipated advancements.
Speaking on the latest episode of the ‘Moonshots with Peter Diamandis’ Podcast, Musk said people should not worry about saving up for retirement over the next several years. Musk, who admitted that he is ‘more optimistic’ than most regarding this, noted that the financial practice would become obsolete if his predictions for the future come true. The SpaceX CEO’s take was that the advancements of AI, robotics, and energy technology would create a future without any scarcity.
Musk’s Vision for the Future
‘One side recommendation I have is: Don’t worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years,’ said Musk. ‘It won’t matter. If any of the things that we’ve said are true, saving for retirement will be irrelevant.’
Musk’s predictions come at a time when many Americans are struggling to put aside money for retirement because of inflation, increased interest rates, and weak wage growth.
The AI Advances
According to Musk, by 2030, AI will surpass ‘the intelligence of all humans combined’, and eventually, the world will be dominated by more humanoid robots than humans on the planet. The traditional job would also be replaced by these robots, with the first jobs to experience this transformation being white-collar positions.
‘Anything short of shaping atoms, AI can do probably half or more of those jobs right now’, said Musk. He said that such advancements would lead to increased productivity and surpass ‘what people possibly could think of as abundance’.
The advancements could also render money irrelevant, with work also becoming optional. Musk previously said the future of work could be compared to recreational activities rather than something required to survive.
‘If you want to work, the same way you can go to the store and just buy some vegetables, or you can grow vegetables in your backyard’, said Musk. ‘It’s much harder to grow vegetables in your backyard, and some people still do it because they like growing vegetables’, Musk said during the US-Saudi Investment Forum in November 2025.
Zero Scarcity
Musk described the potential ideal future in his vision, where there would be an abundance of resources rather than a lack of them. This abundance would allow everyone in the world to attain a ‘universal high income‘.
A ‘good future is anyone can have whatever stuff they want’, Musk explained, citing what it meant, including ‘better medical care than anyone has today, available for everyone within five years. No scarcity of goods and services. You can learn anything you want about anything for free’.
However, Musk warned that the journey towards getting to that point would be ‘bumpy’, with jarring change and social unrest taking place. Musk also warned that people may experience a loss of purpose on the way to this utopia.
‘Now, if you actually get all the stuff you want, is that actually the future you want?’ said Musk. ‘Because it means that your job won’t matter.’