Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and owner of X (formerly Twitter), is one of the biggest proponents of universal basic income (UBI), expecting it to become necessary when robots and AI take over a large portion of jobs, Business Insider wrote.
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What is universal basic income (UBI)?
UBI is a recurring basic cash payment to all adults in a population, regardless of their wealth or employment status, with no restrictions on how they spend the money.
Elon Musk believes that UBI will give people more freedom in how they spend their time and money, predicting that the AI-powered economy will be so productive that everyone will receive not just a basic income but a high income too.
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Elon Musk’s thoughts on UBI
Here are Elon Musk’s eight best quotes about UBI, lightly edited for length and clarity, according to the Business Insider article:
- “There’s a pretty good chance we end up with a universal basic income, or something like that, due to automation. I’m not sure what else one would do. I think that is what would happen. People will have time to do other things, more complex things, more interesting things. Certainly more leisure time.” (CNBC, November 4, 2016).
- “I think we’ll end up doing universal basic income. It’s going to be necessary. There will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better. I want to be clear: These are not things I wish will happen — these are things I think probably will happen.” (World Government Summit in Dubai, February 13, 2017)
- “Universal income will be necessary over time if AI takes over most human jobs. Also think there should be a universal basic income that doesn’t change even if you get a job. Productivity should be rewarded.” (X posts, June 15 and June 20, 2018)
- “I’m in *favour* of universal basic income. Goal of government should be to maximize the happiness of the people. Giving each person money allows them to decide what meets their needs, rather than the blunt tool of legislation, which creates self-serving special interests. If we do a stimulus at all, it should just be direct payments to consumers.” (X post, July 24, 2020)
- “The $1400 ( ₹1.17 lakh) is mostly good imo (UBI lite), as the people get to choose how the money is spent, but the rest is mostly net bad for the people as a whole.” (Commenting on pandemic stimulus in a X post, March 6, 2021)
- “What is the economy at its foundation? It is labor. So what happens when there is no shortage of labor? This is why I think long-term, there will need to be universal basic income.” (AI Day, August 2021)
- “There will be universal high income, not basic, in a positive AI future. No scarcity, except that which we define to be scarce. In that scenario, everyone can have whatever goods & services they want. It is less clear how we will find meaning in a world where work is optional. (X post, December 25, 2023)
- “In a benign scenario, probably none of us will have a job. There would be universal high income. There would be no shortage of goods and services. The question will really be one of meaning: if a computer can do, and the robots can do, everything better than you, does your life have meaning? I do think there’s perhaps still a role for humans in that we may give AI meaning.” (VivaTech, May 23, 2024)
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