Elon Musk Theorizes His Optimus Robots Will "Eliminate Poverty"

Elon Musk has spent recent weeks outlining a vision for an economic future with Optimus robots that he claims will “eliminate” poverty.

Jobs will no longer exist, Musk said, and in a “benign” scenario, all humans will receive a universal high income — the latest hype from the world’s wealthiest futurist, Henry Chandonnet reported for Business Insider.

Musk predicted the robots would increase the global economy by a factor of 10 — or possibly even 100. (Photo: Tesla Optimus X) 

At the same shareholder meeting where Musk predicted the elimination of poverty, shareholders approved his $1 trillion pay package.

He claimed that his Optimus robots will be a force for economic good — even if they ultimately eliminate much of the need for human labor.

Musk also said that Optimus could change life for incarcerated people: instead of physically jailing prisoners, the robots could “follow you around and stop you from doing crime,” he said.

Musk predicted the robots would increase the global economy by a factor of 10 — or possibly even 100. Musk said he has an even bigger vision for the robots: to transform the global economy.

“People often talk about eliminating poverty, giving everyone amazing medical care,” Musk said at Thursday’s shareholder event.

“There’s actually only one way to do that, and that’s with the Optimus robot.” Musk later doubled down: “Optimus will actually eliminate poverty.”

Like many of his past claims, Musk’s assertion that robots could eradicate poverty is not supported by evidence.