As he turns trillionaire, Elon Musk says money will have no value in future

After SpaceX's IPO lifted his fortune past an estimated $1.1 trillion, Elon Musk said AI and robots could usher in universal high income. He said that in such an economy, money could lose relevance as power, mass and resources matter more.

In Short

• SpaceX IPO pushes Elon Musk past $1 trillion
• Old clip resurfaces with surprising comments on money
• Elon Musk says AI could make traditional wealth less important

Elon Musk has entered a wealth bracket that no individual in history has reached before. After SpaceX’s blockbuster initial public offering (IPO), Musk is expected to become the world’s first trillionaire, with his net worth crossing an estimated $1.1 trillion, according to Reuters calculations based on company filings and Forbes estimates. SpaceX has become the single biggest contributor to his fortune. But as people celebrated, debated and calculated the size of that fortune, a recent video clip of Musk started circulating online. And in it, the newly crowned trillionaire appeared to suggest that money itself may one day become less important.

‘Money will stop being relevant’

The clip comes from a conversation between Musk and Peter Diamandis at the 2026 Abundance Summit. In the video, Musk talks about a future shaped by artificial intelligence and robots — a future where machines become so productive that traditional ideas of work, income and even money begin to change.

“We’re going to have universal high income. We’ll basically just issue money to people,” Musk said.

According to him, AI and robots could eventually produce so many goods and services that economies would work very differently from today.

“AI and robots are going to make so much stuff and provide so many services that they’ll run out of things to do for humans.”

Then came the line that is now going viral.

“Money will stop being relevant at some point in the future.”

Peter Diamandis laughed and responded, “so just as you’re becoming a multi-trillionaire, money starts to have less value?”

Musk replied, “Yeah, pretty much.”

What exactly is Musk talking about?

Musk’s idea is that AI could create an age of abundance — a world where machines produce goods and services at such a scale that things become dramatically cheaper and easier to access. Instead of debating whether people should receive a minimum income, Musk says societies could move toward what he calls Universal High Income (UHI).

The idea is simple: if AI makes production extremely cheap, people could receive enough income or credits to enjoy a high standard of living rather than just covering basic needs.

In this world, Musk argues, even things that are expensive today, healthcare, housing, food and services, could become widely accessible.

He has connected this vision to advances in AI, robotics and projects such as Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus.

If money becomes less important, what becomes valuable?

Musk offered an unusual answer. He suggested that advanced AI systems would not care about human currencies like dollars. Instead, they would optimise for real-world limits — energy and physical resources.

“AI won’t use human currency. It will care about power and mass: wattage and tonnage.”

In simple terms, his idea is that the future economy may depend less on who holds cash and more on who controls electricity, computing power, factories and raw materials.

- Ends