Elon Musk predicts a future of abundance where, if you 'wish for a castle,' AI will build it for you

• Elon Musk envisions a world where anyone can “wish for a castle,” and AI will make it for them.
• The Tesla and SpaceX CEO also predicted “extremely high income” and amazing healthcare for all.
• Musk spoke about productivity gains from AI and robots, and responded to data center backlash.

“You could wish for a castle, or whatever you want basically, and the digital superintelligence can make it for you as a side project,” he added.

Actually, AI/Robotics will mean everyone can have a penthouse if they want. The output of goods & services will be several orders of magnitude higher than today’s economy.

Read the Iain Banks Culture books for the best imagining of how it will be.

That said, what is the future you want? Amazing abundance seems the best to me.

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— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2026

Speaking to Ron Baron, one of his biggest shareholders and most steadfast supporters, Musk said tech advances will enable humans to harness so much energy that it will “completely saturate anything anyone could ever wish for on Earth.”

Describing the superintelligence era, he said: “Our economy will seem quaint, and our money system will seem like exchanging seashells for currency.”

He also envisioned humanoid robots being five times as productive as people. They’ll work faster, he said, and can be on the job 24/7 as they don’t “take vacation, or bathroom breaks, or need to eat food, or anything like that.” He estimated that 20 million to 30 million robots could match the current output of working Americans.

During the conversation, Musk addressed the public backlash to the data centers powering the AI boom, which has centered on the water and power they consume and the noise they make. He said that Memphis is “booming” because of SpaceX’s presence there.

“The restaurants are full, the hotels are full. We’re paying at times twice the prevailing wage that people were earning before,” Musk said. “We’ve also helped out with local schools, and the tax revenue that the county and the city are earning is tremendous.”

Musk has faced intense skepticism over his past claims of future abundance, particularly his recommendation that people stop saving for retirement because their wealth will be “irrelevant,” and his proposal of government checks for all as the best response to job losses from AI.

Read the original article on Business Insider