Elon Musk Says Universal High Income Could Replace Government AI Ownership

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 Tells Treasury to Send Cash Directly as AI Reshapes U.S. Economy

Musk made the case on X on June 20, 2026, responding to Vice President JD Vance’s comments on the podcast The Diary of a CEO. Vance had said the Trump administration is open to taking ownership positions in major AI firms, comparing the approach to a sovereign wealth fund.

“Better just to send money directly to the people from the Treasury,” Musk wrote. He argued that inflation will not follow as long as the increase in goods and services outpaces growth in the money supply, a condition he expects AI and robotics to produce. “In fact, my prediction is that we will desperately be fighting deflation,” he added.

An Ongoing Position

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.

In an interview with Nikhil Kamath published in late 2025, Musk said AI and robotics, particularly Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot, represent the main path to addressing the U.S. debt crisis. He predicted that goods and services output would exceed the inflation rate within three years.

Where Musk Splits From Washington

Vance’s comments reflect a position shared in part by the Trump administration and Senator Bernie Sanders, who introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act in early June. Sanders’ bill calls for a one time 50% stock transfer tax on large AI companies and would create a fund holding 50% voting shares in those firms, managed by an independent commission.

Trump has discussed equity stakes with OpenAI’s Sam Altman and noted his economic views and Sanders’ are not far apart on this question. The administration has pointed to its conversion of CHIPS Act grants into a roughly 10% equity stake in Intel as a precedent.

Musk 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 Backdrop

Musk’s statement came days after SpaceX’s initial public offering (IPO), priced at $135 a share, pushed his net worth past $1 trillion. His roughly 38% to 40% stake in SpaceX, combined with Tesla holdings, made him the first person to reach trillionaire status, according to multiple wealth trackers.

The 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 Next

Economists remain split on Musk’s deflation thesis. Central banks typically target mild inflation near 2% in part because deflation can raise the real burden of debt and delay consumer spending. Critics also point to the engineering, energy, and regulatory hurdles facing humanoid robots at the scale Musk describes.

David 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.

For now, the debate sits at a fork between two policy paths: public equity stakes in AI companies, as floated by Trump, Vance, and Sanders, or private ownership paired with direct cash transfers, as proposed by Musk. Which path Washington takes will depend on how quickly AI and robotics translate into measurable output, and whether deflation or inflation actually materializes first.