Elon Musk says 'AI and robots' are the only way to solve America's debt burden

Elon Musk stated artificial intelligence and robots — not authorities spending cuts — are the lone way to fix the US national debt problem.

Speaking on a newly released event of author Walter Isaacson's "The Builders" podcast, Musk stated his 130-day stint as a special authorities employee in the second Trump administration led him to that view.

Musk, the world's richest person, served as the de facto chief of the White House DOGE office from January to May 2025, anywhere he sought to slash national spending.

"I came to the decision that the lone way we're going to resolve the national debt is alongside AI and robots. We're not going to resolve it by trying to preserve our way there," Musk told Isaacson, calling the second "impossible."

The US national debt burden hit a record $40 trillion in August and has continued to climb, according to Treasury data.

"Maybe if the chairman made that his, you know, chief goal, we could do that, but the issue is if you try to resolve the deficit and halt wasteful spending, you create a lot of enemies in that situation," Musk said.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO stated governmental leaders in Washington are mostly unwilling to rein in national spending adequate to considerably shrink the deficit.

"The appetite is not there, and it's not fair at the presidency. The appetite is not there at the presidency, the House, the Senate, or the judiciary," Musk said.

He added, "Basically, no one in authority in the authorities whatsoever, really, alongside perchance a few rare exceptions of akin the Rand Pauls of the earth category of thing, really wants to decrease spending — no, they don't."

Musk estimated that "digital superintelligence" could boost the earth output of products and services by 20% to 30% — an addition he estimated could add approximately $30 trillion a twelvemonth to the earth economy.

"If you have robots and you get to area and can do a mass controller on the moon, afterward you can get to, I think, possibly a myriad times the size of the Earth economy," he said.

This could ultimately create prosperity "irrelevant," Musk said.

"There volition motionless be currency, but I think prosperity volition be measured in essential discipline metrics akin wattage and tonnage, bulk and energy," he said, predicting, "Conventional prosperity volition not matter."

During the interview, Musk additionally reflected on his chainsaw-wielding time alongside the Department of Government Efficiency, admitting he got "carried away."

"I think I should have been additional in the backdrop and likely lone had it final for a duration or two, since at that item you've kind of seen most of what there is to see," Musk told Isaacson.

Musk stated he should have remaining and "focused on AI a small sooner than I did."