Musk predicts that AI could drive global economic growth by 20% to 30%

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, stated via video link at the G20 summit held in Asheville, North Carolina, on Tuesday that the productivity improvements brought by AI are already evident, and robotics technology will further push productivity to new heights. He predicts that AI could increase the global economy's scale by 20% to 30%, adding approximately $20 trillion to $30 trillion to annual economic output.

Musk forecasts that the number of humanoid robots worldwide will reach 1 billion within the next decade, with these robots producing at least five times more than humans. The widespread application of humanoid robots could expand the global economy's scale by more than tenfold. He also predicts that by the end of next year, AI will be able to handle almost all digital tasks that do not involve changing the real physical world, with AI software reaching Stockfish levels, making it impossible for humans to compete in software development. He expects that within 12 to 18 months, AI will excel in all forms of engineering and digital work.

As Musk made these remarks, SpaceX is ramping up its investment in AI. SpaceX's AI business generated $2.6 billion in revenue in the second quarter, a year-on-year increase of 247%. The company invested $15.8 billion in AI infrastructure in the second quarter, primarily for the expansion of the Colossus II data center, accounting for about 86% of total capital expenditures. Recently, SpaceX acquired the AI programming platform Cursor for $60 billion and released its latest AI model, Grok 4.6.