Like him or not, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wields incredible influence, making his comments important for investors. He spoke via video Tuesday to finance leaders from the Group of 20 nations meeting in North Carolina.
Musk hit on several topics in a short interview related to the economy and AI. He remains, unsurprisingly, a techno-optimist.
Innovation
The first thing he addressed was innovation. Musk prefers things to be "default legal" instead of "default illegal." Too much regulation stifles innovation, he says. In addition, new companies need access to capital, which is something the U.S. does well.
AI
Musk believes that AI is a prosperity-generating tool, potentially increasing the global economy by 20% to 30% when fully adopted. Eventually, physical AI, including AI-trained humanoid robots, will lead to even bigger gains, increasing the global economy by a factor of 10.
Bets
Musk has never shied away from big goals. Recently, he said SpaceX could generate $3.5 trillion in annual sales by 2033. Morgan Stanley sees that number by 2040.
He made another big statement on Tuesday. Musk bets there will be one billion humanoid robots operating in 10 years and that those robots will be five times as productive as humans.
Bottlenecks
He does see some problems. Musk said there was a "crisis of power," with more electricity generation needed to power AI computers and the coming robots.
Never one to sit still, he recently suggested that SpaceX would start producing turbine blades for power-generating turbines. That's typically the business of companies like Howmet Aerospace.
Overall, Musk remains, as ever, an optimist. His comments weren't moving Tesla or SpaceX shares into the green. Tesla shares were down 2.5% in early trading, while the S&P 500 was off 0.5%. SpaceX shares were flat.
Howmet shares were up 3.9% Tuesday after falling 7.5% on Monday following Musk's comments about turbine blades. Shares of GE Vernova and Caterpillar, which make power-generating equipment, were both down about 2.5% in midday trading.