Elon Musk once again raised the idea of a government-backed income system to deal with job losses caused by artificial intelligence, a view that now overlaps in parts with proposals from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman despite their ongoing rivalry. In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk spoke about what he called “Universal HIGH INCOME,” suggesting that federal government checks could help people cope with large-scale unemployment driven by AI and robotics. He argued that as AI increases productivity, the supply of goods and services could grow faster than the money supply, making such payments sustainable.“Universal HIGH INCOME via checks issued by the Federal government is the best way to deal with unemployment caused by AI,” Musk wrote adding “AI/robotics will produce goods & services far in excess of the increase in the money supply, so there will not be inflation”.
Elon Musk and Sam Altman find rare common ground on AI impact
This is not the first time that Elon Musk proposed the idea of universal income. He has supported similar ideas for years, earlier backing the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI). He has now reframed it as “universal high income,” saying that in a best-case scenario, AI could create a level of economic prosperity that is difficult to imagine today.Interestingly, his comments come just days after OpenAI released a detailed policy proposal addressing the impact of advanced AI systems. While Altman’s plan does not directly call for UBI, it suggests creating a public wealth fund that would give citizens a financial stake in AI companies and infrastructure. The proposal also discusses higher corporate taxes and levies on companies that replace human workers with AI.What other leaders say about universal basis income Not everyone agrees with such income-based solutions. Critics argue that these ideas could reduce incentives to work or place too much responsibility on governments. Venture capital billionaire Marc Andreesen and former White House AI Czar David Sack have previously criticized the idea. Sack shared an X post last year writing:“The future of AI has become a Rorschach test where everyone sees what they want. The Left envisions a post-economic order in which people stop working and instead receive government benefits. In other words, everyone on welfare. This is their fantasy; it’s not going to happen”.Marc Andreesen has said: “We believe a Universal Basic Income would turn people into zoo animals to be farmed by the state. Man was not meant to be farmed; man was meant to be useful, to be productive, to be proud.” As per a Forbes report, economist Joseph Stiglitz has warned that without proper policies, AI could increase inequality. At the same time, some tech investors have openly opposed universal income models, calling them unrealistic.
