Musk predicts money will be obsolete by 2036 amid AI
Elon Musk predicts money will be obsolete by 2036, arguing AI and robots will create such material abundance that currency loses purpose. In a July 23, 2026 interview with The Economist, he also said AI could surpass all human intelligence within about five years, and that China may lead the race.
Speaking after SpaceX's IPO at Tesla's Gigafactory in Texas, Musk told Editor-in-Chief Zanny Minton Beddoes that goods and services could approach infinite supply. That outlook sits alongside sharper warnings about a bumpy jobs transition and China's electricity edge. More coverage lives in our Future Tech & AI Wonders hub.
Key Takeaways
- Musk said that in 2036, "money won't matter anymore," barring major disruptions such as world war.
- He forecast AI's combined intelligence exceeding all of humanity within roughly five years (around 2031).
- He argued future economies may face deflation, not inflation, as output outpaces money supply.
- China, he said, is "very likely" to become an AI leader thanks to power capacity and approaching chip breakthroughs.
- Economists such as AIER's Peter C. Earle counter that abundance relocates scarcity rather than ending money.
Why does Musk say money will stop mattering?
Musk framed money as a claim on food, shelter, transport, and entertainment. If robots and digital intelligence make those goods and services quasi-infinite, he asked, what remains for currency to do?
He told The Economist that even printing money could still yield deflation if production grows faster than the money supply. On jobs, he said AI already beats at least 90% of professional software engineers and will eventually reach "Stockfish level," while Optimus robots later displace physical labor—leaving work optional, like gardening.
When could AI surpass all human intelligence?
Musk's timeline puts AI past the sum of human intelligence in about five years. "Except perhaps for being unable to be human itself, AI will be capable of everything by then," he said.
That forecast marks a shift from earlier pause advocacy. He now argues AI's momentum cannot be stopped and that "all roads lead to AI acceleration," favoring peer review among rival labs before frontier releases.
Could China lead the global AI race?
Musk praised Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 and said Chinese firms are very likely to lead. He cited China's electricity advantage—claiming generation already about three times the U.S.—and said China is "closer than most people realize" to clearing the lithography bottleneck.
Export controls, he argued, cannot stop China from becoming an AI leader or the world from using Chinese models. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, speaking the same day, similarly said China is destined to produce exceptional AI technology.