Elon Musk has a bold answer to America’s $40 trillion debt crisis

Elon Musk says the United States will not fix its national debt by cutting spending, and that "AI and robots" are the only real way out, according to an exclusive interview with Axios.

The national debt stood at roughly $40.39 trillion on Oct, 15, Treasury data shows.

Musk made the remarks in conversation with biographer Walter Isaacson for a new podcast. He said the DOGE experiment he once led showed the deficit cannot be solved from inside government, because almost no one in authority wants to cut spending .

"If you try to solve the deficit and stop wasteful spending, you make a lot of enemies," Musk said.

"The only way we're going to solve the national debt is with AI and robots," Musk added. During the interview he said that he should have "focused" on AI sooner than he did.

"We're not gonna solve it by trying to save our way there," he said.

Musk added that President Donald Trump "likes to be liked" , and that cutting waste makes enemies. He also admitted he "kinda got carried away" at DOGE, stayed away from his companies too long, and should have returned to AI sooner.

The comments came two days before Musk pledged to give every American child one SpaceX share next year.

This is not the first time Musk has suggested that AI and robots could help solve the U.S. debt problem.

In a podcast interview in Nov, 2025, Musk said AI and robotics were "pretty much the only thing" that could solve the U.S. debt crisis. Musk called the debt "insanely high," pointing out that interest payments alone exceeded the entire U.S. military budget.

He argued that AI would eventually push the output of goods and services past growth in the money supply, likely causing "deflation".

His timeline was three years. He admitted, however, that AI had not yet lifted productivity enough to get there.

The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.29% in late September, while the 30-year yield hit 5.61%, its highest level since 2002 .

Bitcoin has long been pitched as a hedge against exactly this kind of sovereign debt.

Musk's plan comes with a twist. Musk has said that if AI and robots increase output , the government must issue dollars to people or face "massive disinflation."