Elon Musk’s Proposal of ‘Universal High Income’ to Combat AI Job Losses Baffles Economists: ‘So Wrong on This’

Elon Musk turned heads Friday when he suggested that the federal government paying citizens a “universal high income” is the best way to combat AI-related job losses.

“Universal HIGH INCOME via checks issued by the Federal government is the best way to deal with unemployment caused by AI,” Musk said in a post on his own X platform shortly after midnight Friday morning.

The proposal, which is still pinned to the top of his X account, rebuffed the idea that such payments would be inflationary. . .

Universal HIGH INCOME via checks issued by the Federal government is the best way to deal with unemployment caused by AI.

AI/robotics will produce goods & services far in excess of the increase in the money supply, so there will not be inflation.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 17, 2026

“He is so wrong on this,” wrote Sanjeev Sanyal, the former top economic advisor to India’s Minister of Finance.

“AI will certainly cause dislocation, but like all technology it will also create new jobs and opportunities in the medium term. AI and robots will also not produce goods and services in excess of money or demand that there will be no inflation,” he wrote on X.

He is so wrong on this. AI will certainly cause dislocation, but like all technology it will also create new jobs and opportunities in the medium term. AI and robots will also not produce goods and services in excess of money or demand that there will be no inflation. Both of… https://t.co/XAn86JslQN

— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) April 17, 2026