Tesla and xAI CEO Elon Musk has called for the United States federal government to provide “Universal HIGH INCOME” checks to citizens as he believes AI and robotics will radically reshape the employment landscape.
Musk made his proposal on Friday through a post on X which garnered almost 38 million views and ignited widespread discussion about the future of work in an increasingly automated economy. The tech tycoon argued that AI and robotics will produce goods and services in such abundance that traditional concerns about inflation from increased money supply will become irrelevant. “AI/robotics will produce goods & services far in excess of the increase in the money supply, so there will not be inflation,” Musk wrote.
The concept of Universal High Income (UHI) represents Musk’s alternative to conventional universal basic income (UBI) proposals. Rather than providing minimal subsistence payments, UHI would offer more substantial financial support, enabling people to maintain comfortable lifestyles without mandatory employment. Musk has previously described a future where “all jobs will be optional” and suggested that money itself could lose significance as advanced technology creates post-scarcity economic conditions.
Breitbart News previously reported on Musk’s suggestion that Americans cash in their retirement savings because AI will provide everything they need:
On the Moonshots with Peter Diamandis podcast last week, Musk stated: “Don’t worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years. It won’t matter.”
Musk’s comments on retirement savings are similar to his recent claims that in the AI utopia of his imagination, work will be “optional” and treated like a hobby.
Musk envisions government-issued payments as a transitional solution to a fundamentally transformed economic system. His argument rests on the premise that AI and robotics will generate production surpluses that exceed monetary expansion, thereby eliminating inflationary pressures typically associated with increasing the money supply. This perspective reflects Musk’s long-held optimism about technological abundance and draws from science-fiction concepts of post-scarcity societies where material needs are met without human labor.
The proposal generated immediate controversy among economists and the public. Supporters praised Musk for directly confronting structural unemployment challenges, noting that existing safety net programs may prove inadequate if entire employment categories disappear. However, critics raised numerous practical and philosophical concerns. Many questioned whether the federal government possesses the capability to administer such a program efficiently without succumbing to waste, fraud, or political manipulation. Others worried that unconditional payments could undermine work ethic, diminish personal purpose, and damage social cohesion.
Wynton Hall has written the instant bestseller Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI, to serve as the definitive guide on how the MAGA movement can create positions on AI that benefit humanity without handing control of our nation to the leftists of Silicon Valley or allowing the Chinese to take over the world. One crucial component of the book is how AI will impact politics ranging from the 2026 midterms to the next presidential election and beyond.
As Hall explained in a article for Breitbart, the left has developed a plan to weaponize AI job loss heading into the midterm elections:
The political playbook has three parts:
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Convince Americans that mass AI job loss is inevitable.
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Channel that fear and ennui into galvanizing support for Universal Basic Income (UBI) redistribution in the long-term.
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Co-opt populist concerns over AI data centers driving up electricity and water bills for everyday Americans in the short-term.
Breitbart News will continue to report on AI’s impact on the economy and political landscape.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.
