Elon Musk on the future of jobs and AI, 'My prediction is that work will be optional'
TechRadar
U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, Kennedy Center, Washington DC (panel with Jensen Huang)
“My prediction is that work will be optional. It'll be like playing sports or a video game or something like that”
Elon Musk19 November 2025- What you'll lose3/5
Work, and money with it, made 'irrelevant'.
- Condescension2/5
Your job, as a video game.
- Tone-deafness4/5
Said by the world's richest man at a Saudi investment forum.
- Doom2/5
Within 10 to 20 years.
- Hypocrisy0/5
None.
Full time11 pitchforksof a possible 25
Think the referee got a count wrong?
Call received. VAR is having a look: the referee reviews every call, and the score stands until then.
The occasion
U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, Kennedy Center, Washington DC (panel with Jensen Huang), 19 November 2025.
Context
On a panel with Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Musk predicted that within roughly 10 to 20 years AI and robots would make work optional and money irrelevant. He added that getting there would take 'a lot of work'.
Crowd reaction
Critical commentary
TechRadar's Lance Ulanoff wrote: 'It's easy, I think, for the world's richest man to tell people, many who are struggling paycheck to paycheck, that money won't matter and work will be optional'. IBTimes quotes University of Pennsylvania economist Ioana Marinescu questioning whether the timeline is realistic. This is skepticism more than outrage.
- TechRadar: Elon Musk on the future of jobs and AI, 'My prediction is that work will be optional'
- Fortune: Elon Musk: AI, robotics will make work optional and money irrelevant in 10 to 20 years
- IBTimes UK: Elon Musk Predicts an 'Automated Future': Work Optional, Money Irrelevant — Experts Weigh the Possibility
- Fox Business: Elon Musk predicts AI and robotics will make work optional in future
- Where the exact words are printed