Elon Musk says the U.S. Treasury should send money directly to citizens rather than have the government buy stakes in artificial intelligence (AI) companies.
Key Takeaways:
Elon Musk proposed direct Treasury payments instead of AI equity stakes on June 20, 2026.VT Senator Bernie Sanders’ bill seeks a 50% stock tax on major AI firms to fund a sovereign wealth fund.SpaceX’s IPO pushed Musk’s net worth past $1 trillion days before his statement.Musk first raised the idea of guaranteed income at the World Government Summit in Dubai in February 2017, telling attendees that automation would force some form of universal basic income. By December 2023, his language had shifted toward what he called universal high income, arguing AI driven abundance would remove scarcity in most areas of life.
Where Musk Splits From WashingtonMusk rejects that model. He favors keeping AI companies, including his own xAI, fully private while taxing their profits and distributing the proceeds as direct payments. He argues this preserves incentives for founders and avoids politicizing company decisions.
The Trillionaire BackdropThe timing has drawn scrutiny. Critics, including the advocacy group Oxfam, have called the milestone a sign of extreme inequality and pushed for wealth taxes. Supporters counter that most of Musk’s wealth is unrealized equity tied to companies that lowered costs in electric vehicles, satellite internet and space launches.
What Comes NextDavid Autor and other labor economists have argued that automation historically creates new categories of work even as it displaces old ones, a pattern that could complicate Musk’s prediction that work becomes optional.
