Billionaire Elon Musk Remarks That Saving Money Is 'Pointless' Due to 'Super Intelligent Abundance'

Billionaire Elon Musk described saving money for the distant future as 'pointless' in a post on X, linking his position to a prediction that artificial intelligence will deliver 'super intelligent abundance'.

Futurism posted it early Thursday without specifying the calendar date, and the comments echoed his earlier suggestion that retirement savings could become irrelevant if his AI forecasts prove accurate.

During a January podcast appearance cited by Fortune, Musk urged listeners not to worry about accumulating money for retirement over the next 10 or 20 years.

Musk's Saving Money Claim

'Saving money for the distant future is pointless with the advent of super intelligent abundance,' Musk wrote on X.

The post tied his claim about saving to an anticipated technological development. Musk did not specify in that message how such abundance would be achieved or when it would arrive.

In an interview with The Economist, Musk outlined his expectation that AI would surpass human capabilities.

He predicted that 'there really won't be anything AI won't be able to do better than humans, apart from being human, perhaps'.

'I think AI may exceed the sum of human intelligence in around five years,' he continued. 'The most likely outcome is an age of amazing abundance where anyone can have anything they can think of.' That five-year estimate concerned AI exceeding the sum of human intelligence. Musk's quoted remarks did not specify a date by which saving money would become unnecessary.

Musk's Retirement Prediction Carries a Condition

Fortune's account of the January podcast appearance included a more specific statement about retirement.

'Don't worry about squirrelling money away for retirement in like 10 or 20 years — it won't matter,' Musk stated.

He added, 'You won't need to save for retirement. If any of the things that we've said are true, saving for retirement will be irrelevant.'

His wording attached that conclusion to the accuracy of the predictions discussed during the appearance. The claim that people would no longer need retirement savings was therefore conditional on those forecasts proving correct.

Futurism contrasted Musk's position on saving with his personal fortune. It described him as a sometimes-trillionaire and placed his net worth above $900 billion following SpaceX's IPO. IBTimes UK has not independently verified that valuation or its timing.

Musk's Wealth and Charitable Commitments

Futurism also criticised Musk's charitable record, citing a New York Times account that the Musk Foundation fell $421 million short of the minimum amount it was required to distribute in 2023.

Futurism placed the foundation's assets at nearly $15 billion and described scrutiny of its structure and donations. It stated that much of the foundation's assets had gone to organisations with close ties to Musk and his businesses.

Separately, Futurism cited The New York Times over Musk's pledge to give 'every kid in America' a single share of SpaceX stock. It characterised the pledge as an apparent response to Anthropic's promise to direct a substantial portion of its shares into a philanthropic public benefit fund. The report in Futurism did not establish Musk's motive for the pledge. Whether he would fulfil his commitment remains to be seen.