{"id":74352,"date":"2026-06-21T19:24:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T19:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/elon-musk-says-universal-high-income-could-replace-government-ai-ownership\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T19:24:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T19:24:56","slug":"elon-musk-says-universal-high-income-could-replace-government-ai-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/elon-musk-says-universal-high-income-could-replace-government-ai-ownership\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk Says Universal High Income Could Replace Government AI Ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"@container mb-[25px] rounded-sm overflow-clip py-0.5 pr-0.5 pl-2.5 bg-success-100\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-m overflow-clip rounded-[6px] !bg-success-10 p-3 @[420px]:p-m\">\n<h2 class=\"m-0 flex items-center gap-s text-[19px] !text-[#1c1c1c] md:text-[20px]\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"10\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 10\" fill=\"none\" class=\"shrink-0 text-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M1 1.5h14\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M1 8.5h10\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><\/svg><span>Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"m-0 flex list-none flex-col gap-m pl-0\">\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Elon Musk proposed direct Treasury payments instead of AI equity stakes on June 20, 2026.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">VT Senator Bernie Sanders\u2019 bill seeks a 50% stock tax on major AI firms to fund a sovereign wealth fund.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">SpaceX\u2019s IPO pushed Musk\u2019s net worth past $1 trillion days before his statement.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Musk Tells Treasury to Send Cash Directly as AI Reshapes U.S. Economy<\/h2>\n<p>Musk made the case on X on June 20, 2026, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/elonmusk\/status\/2068427440473452739?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">responding<\/a> to Vice President JD Vance\u2019s comments on the podcast The Diary of a CEO. Vance had said the Trump administration is open to taking ownership positions in major AI firms, comparing the approach to a sovereign wealth fund.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBetter just to send money directly to the people from the Treasury,\u201d Musk wrote. He argued that <span>inflation<\/span> will not follow as long as the increase in goods and services outpaces growth in the money supply, a condition he expects AI and robotics to produce. \u201cIn fact, my prediction is that we will desperately be fighting deflation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h2>An Ongoing Position<\/h2>\n<p>Musk first raised the idea of guaranteed income at the World Government Summit in Dubai in February 2017, telling attendees that automation would force some form of universal basic income. By December 2023, his language had shifted toward what he called universal high income, arguing AI driven abundance would remove scarcity in most areas of life.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with Nikhil Kamath published in late 2025, Musk said AI and robotics, particularly Tesla\u2019s Optimus humanoid robot, represent the main path to addressing the U.S. debt crisis. He predicted that goods and services output would exceed the <span>inflation<\/span> rate within three years.<\/p>\n<h2>Where Musk Splits From Washington<\/h2>\n<p>Vance\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SurmountInvest\/status\/2068333299353911554?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">comments<\/a> reflect a position shared in part by the Trump administration and Senator Bernie Sanders, who introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act in early June. Sanders\u2019 bill calls for a one time 50% stock transfer tax on large AI companies and would create a fund holding 50% voting shares in those firms, managed by an independent commission.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/trump-declares-iran-deal-done-reopens-strait-of-hormuz-bitcoin-climbs-past-65k\/\">Trump<\/a> has discussed equity stakes with OpenAI\u2019s Sam Altman and noted his economic views and Sanders\u2019 are not far apart on this question. The administration has pointed to its conversion of CHIPS Act grants into a roughly 10% equity <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-is-staking\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stake<\/a> in Intel as a precedent.<\/p>\n<p>Musk rejects that model. He favors keeping AI companies, including his own xAI, fully private while taxing their profits and distributing the proceeds as direct payments. He argues this preserves incentives for founders and avoids politicizing company decisions.<\/p>\n<h2>The Trillionaire Backdrop<\/h2>\n<p>Musk\u2019s statement came days after SpaceX\u2019s initial public offering (<a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/spacex-could-enter-major-index-funds-within-weeks-after-trillion-dollar-ipo\/\">IPO<\/a>), priced at $135 a share, pushed his net worth past $1 trillion. His roughly 38% to 40% <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-is-staking\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stake<\/a> in SpaceX, combined with Tesla holdings, made him the first person to reach <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/spacex-hits-2-1t-on-debut-day-making-elon-musk-the-worlds-first-trillionaire\/\">trillionaire status<\/a>, according to multiple wealth trackers.<\/p>\n<p>The timing has drawn scrutiny. Critics, including the advocacy group Oxfam, have called the milestone a sign of extreme inequality and pushed for wealth taxes. Supporters counter that most of Musk\u2019s wealth is unrealized equity tied to companies that lowered costs in electric vehicles, satellite internet and space launches.<\/p>\n<h2>What Comes Next<\/h2>\n<p>Economists remain split on Musk\u2019s deflation thesis. Central banks typically target mild <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-is-inflation\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">inflation<\/a> near 2% in part because deflation can raise the real burden of debt and delay consumer spending. Critics also point to the engineering, energy, and regulatory hurdles facing humanoid robots at the scale Musk describes.<\/p>\n<p>David Autor and other labor economists have argued that automation historically creates new categories of work even as it displaces old ones, a pattern that could complicate Musk\u2019s prediction that work becomes optional.<\/p>\n<p>For now, the debate sits at a fork between two policy paths: public equity stakes in AI companies, as floated by Trump, Vance, and Sanders, or private ownership paired with direct cash transfers, as proposed by Musk. Which path Washington takes will depend on how quickly AI and robotics translate into measurable output, and whether deflation or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-is-inflation\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">inflation<\/a> actually materializes first.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/elon-musk-says-universal-high-income-could-replace-government-ai-ownership\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways Elon Musk proposed direct Treasury payments instead of AI equity stakes on June 20, 2026. VT Senator Bernie Sanders\u2019 bill seeks a 50% stock tax on major AI firms to fund a sovereign wealth fund. SpaceX\u2019s IPO pushed Musk\u2019s net worth past $1 trillion days before [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":74353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74352"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}