Elon Musk says saving for retirement is irrelevant because AI is going to create a world of abundance: ‘It won’t matter’

Saving for retirement is pointless thanks to the impending “supersonic tsunami” of AI and robotics, which will bring about a world of zero scarcity, according to Elon Musk.

While the Tesla and SpaceX CEO admitted he’s “more optimistic” than most, he insisted people shouldn’t stress over building a nest egg for the distant future, contrary to the staid advice of nearly all other financial professionals.

“Don’t worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years,” said the world’s richest man on the Moonshots with Peter Diamandis podcast last week. “It won’t matter.”

Part of Musk’s controversial take lies in his vision of a world transformed by rapidly improving AI, robotics, and energy technology.

Musk’s hot take

By 2030, AI will surpass “the intelligence of all humans combined,” Musk predicted. He also claimed eventually there will be more humanoid robots than humans on Earth. Slowly, the traditional job will be replaced as well, with white collar positions first on the list.

“Anything short of shaping atoms, AI can do probably half or more of those jobs right now,” he said.

The advances could lead to such big productivity increases, he said, that they will surpass “...