Public transcript

Elon Musk predicts money will "stop being relevant" in the future

By: Global News
Length: 4 min
Language: English
Text from: the video's captions
Transcribed: 14 October 2026

Read the full transcript Open on YouTube

Notes in English.

Summary

In this short interview clip, Elon Musk discusses Tesla's goals of making electric cars compelling and affordable, and predicts Tesla will create the first genuinely useful humanoid robots. He argues humanoid robots will be the biggest industry ever, and that AI and robotics are the only real path to eliminating poverty. He predicts that in 10 to 20 years work will become optional, and that eventually money itself will stop being relevant, though constraints like electricity and mass will remain.

Key points

Tesla's original goal was to make electric cars compelling and affordable.
Musk says there are no useful humanoid robots today, only gimmicks, and predicts Tesla will make the first actually useful ones.
He believes humanoid robots will be the biggest industry or product ever, bigger than cell phones, because everyone will want one.
Musk claims AI and humanoid robots will actually eliminate poverty, where NGOs and past efforts have not succeeded.
He predicts that in 10 to 20 years, work will become optional, like a hobby such as growing vegetables in your backyard.
He recommends reading Iain Banks' Culture books as a model of a probable positive AI future, where money no longer exists.
Musk predicts money will stop being relevant at some point in the future, though constraints on electricity and mass will remain.

Questions it answers

00:00Tesla's goals and humanoid robots

What was Tesla's goal, and what does Musk think about humanoid robots today?

Tesla wanted to make electric cars compelling and affordable. Musk says there are no useful humanoid robots yet, only gimmicks, and he believes Tesla will make the first actually useful ones, which he compares to everyone wanting their own personal C-3PO or R2-D2.

Tesla's goal was compelling, affordable electric cars.
Musk predicts Tesla will build the first actually useful humanoid robots.

00:46The biggest industry ever

Why does Musk think humanoid robots will be the biggest industry ever?

He says everyone will want one, or more than one, and industry will use many of them, making humanoid robots bigger than cell phones or anything else.

Everyone will want a humanoid robot.
He expects many robots in industry providing products and services.

01:34Eliminating poverty

How does Musk think poverty will actually be eliminated?

He says NGOs and past efforts have talked about eliminating poverty without succeeding, and argues AI and humanoid robots are basically the only way to make everyone wealthy. Tesla will pioneer robots, but many other companies will make them too.

AI and robotics are, in his view, the only way to make everyone wealthy.
Tesla will pioneer humanoid robots, but won't be the only maker.

02:01Work becomes optional

What does Musk predict about the future of work?

In 10 to 20 years, he predicts work will become optional, like playing sports or a video game, similar to growing vegetables in your backyard instead of buying them. He adds there is a lot of work to do to reach that point.

Work will be optional in his long-term prediction.
Getting there still requires a lot of work.

02:41Money stops being relevant

Why does Musk think money will eventually stop being relevant?

He recommends Iain Banks' Culture books, where money no longer exists, as a model of a probable positive AI future. Assuming AI and robotics keep improving, he predicts currency becomes irrelevant, though constraints like electricity and mass will remain.

He recommends the Iain Banks Culture books.
Currency becomes irrelevant, but physics constraints on electricity and mass remain.

Notes

Tesla's Electric Car Mission

Musk says Tesla's goal was to make electric cars compelling and affordable.

Humanoid Robots

He states there are no useful humanoid robots today, only gimmicks.
He predicts Tesla will make the first actually useful humanoid robots, calling it a revolution.
He compares the appeal to everyone wanting their own personal C-3PO or R2-D2, and says a humanoid robot would be better than both combined, times 10.
He predicts humanoid robots will be the biggest industry or product ever, bigger than cell phones, because everyone will want one or more, and industry will use many.

Eliminating Poverty

Musk says people have long talked about eliminating poverty, with many NGOs trying, but not succeeding.
He argues AI and humanoid robots will actually eliminate poverty.
Tesla will pioneer humanoid robots, but many other companies will make them too.
He says there is basically only one way to make everyone wealthy: AI and robotics.

The Future of Work

His long-term prediction, over maybe 10 to 20 years, is that work will become optional.
Work will be like playing sports or a video game, or like choosing to grow vegetables in your backyard instead of buying them at the store.
He notes there is a lot of work to do between now and then.

The End of Money

He recommends reading Iain Banks' Culture books to get a sense of a probable positive AI future.
In those books, money no longer exists.
Assuming continued improvement in AI and robotics, he predicts money will stop being relevant at some point in the future.
Constraints on power, like electricity and mass, will still remain as fundamental physics limits.

Text from the video's own captions. Summary and notes written by AI from the transcript, so check anything important against the recording.