Elon Musk Says U.S. Could Go Bankrupt Without AI and Robotics

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has warned that the United States could face economic failure without major productivity gains from artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, arguing that those technologies could help address the country's growing national debt.

Elon Musk says AI and robotics could help address the U.S. national debt.

Musk made the remarks during an appearance on the Dwarkesh Podcast on Feb. 5, 2026, rather than in a new interview in October.

“We are 1,000% going to go bankrupt as a country and fail as a country, without AI and robots,” he said. “Nothing else will solve the national debt.” The comments were reported by Jing Pan for Moneywise and republished by Yahoo Finance.

Musk argued that AI and robotics could generate enough productivity and economic growth to help the United States manage its debt burden.

He said the country was “actually totally screwed” because the national debt was increasing rapidly.

US gross federal debt has surpassed $40 trillion, underscoring the scale of the fiscal challenge.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected in February that the federal budget deficit would reach $1.9 trillion in fiscal year 2026. By July, however, the CBO had raised its estimate of the full-year deficit to $2.1 trillion.

Musk also pointed to the cost of servicing the debt. “The interest payments on national debt exceed the military budget, which is a trillion dollars. So, we have over a trillion dollars just in interest payments,” he said.

The United States has also incurred substantial costs from the war in Iran.

Harvard Kennedy School public-finance expert Linda Bilmes estimated in April that the conflict could cost at least $1 trillion overall.

She said the war was costing about $2 billion a day at that point.

Musk's claim that AI and robotics are the only possible solution to the US debt problem is his own assessment, not a forecast by the CBO or another official economic institution.

The CBO's long-term analysis points instead to rising deficits and debt driven by factors including mandatory spending and increasing net interest costs.