Tesla CEO Elon Musk has once again proposed the idea of universal high income, saying government issued checks could help deal with job losses caused by artificial intelligence (AI). Sharing a post on X (formerly Twitter), the world’s richest argued that it would not lead to inflation. “Universal HIGH INCOME via checks issued by the Federal government is the best way to deal with unemployment caused by AI,” Musk wrote adding “AI/robotics will produce goods & services far in excess of the increase in the money supply, so there will not be inflation”. Notably, this is not the first time when Elon Musk has talked about universal high income and predicting a future that is poverty-free.
When Elon Musk predicts a future without poverty
In December, Elon Musk predicted that “there will be no poverty in the future”. Instead, he said that there will be universal high income, adding that people would no longer need to save money. Musk was then responding to a post by investor Ray Dalio about Trump accounts initiative. Dalio had praised the effort, calling it a bipartisan move aimed at helping young Americans build financial knowledge and invest early. He also thanked Michael and Susan Dell for supporting the programme and said the initiative aligns with the ideas he shared six years ago in “Why and How Capitalism Needs To Be Reformed.”Replying to Dalio’s message, Musk said: “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.”However, Elon Musk did not elaborate on how such a system would be achieved. The comments come amid separate discussions Musk has previously led about artificial intelligence, automation and the long-term economic effects of technology.
Reactions to Elon Musk’s poverty-free future
Not many seem to agree with Elon Musk’s views. Commenting on his post, one user wrote: “This makes zero sense and I’m not sure how it will benefit humans. So we’ll all be dependent on government and the government will give us the money because they care for us? I don’t think so”.Another user replied: “how will they decide who gets what amount? What about people still working? I worked two jobs during the covid lock downs and barely made more than the people getting paid 600 week to play video games. This is a conversation that needs to be had now”. “What happens when we fully relax and rely on the government? What happens when we disagree with the government, because it disagrees with the way we want to live? Do we get cut off from the government funding us? What then?,” a third user questioned.
Poll
Do you agree with proposal by Elon Musk for universal high income to counter job losses from AI?
