Elon Musk Foresees a Future of Optional Work and Irrelevant Money: Insights from AI and Robotics Advances**
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has outlined a bold vision for humanity’s near-term future shaped by rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and robotics. In remarks delivered at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum in November 2025, Musk predicted that within the next 10 to 20 years, work as we know it will become optional, and money itself may lose its relevance in everyday economic life. He likened choosing to work in this era to deciding whether to grow vegetables in a backyard garden or simply purchase them from a store—an activity pursued for enjoyment rather than necessity. “My prediction is that work will be optional,” Musk stated. “It’ll be like playing sports or a video game or something like that.” This outlook stems from Musk’s expectation that fleets of advanced humanoid robots, such as Tesla’s Optimus, combined with increasingly capable AI systems, will drive an explosion in productivity. These technologies, he argues, will handle virtually all essential labor, u...