Musk's first interview in 2026: Exploring the impact of AI, robotics, energy, and the US-China competition on the near future.

Video: Moonshots

Compiled by: Exemplary English

On January 6, 2026, Tesla founder Elon Musk was interviewed by renowned futurist and Singularity University founder Peter Diamandis and investor Dave Blundin.

In this podcast titled "Moonshots#220," the three engaged in an in-depth conversation lasting three hours. Musk explicitly stated that 2026 will be the "Year of the Singularity," and elaborated on the industrial, technological, and economic foundations that underpin this argument, painting a picture of a future reshaped by technological change.

The dialogue covered nearly 10 topics, including artificial intelligence, social transformation of the workforce, energy development, education and talent, health and longevity, space exploration, and innovation and entrepreneurship. The text contained 85,600 words, many of which were insightful and forward-looking.

To help everyone quickly grasp the core points of the interview, Xiaoge has compiled and summarized the essential content to share with everyone!

1. AI is beyond imagination; by 2030, its intelligence level will surpass the total intelligence of all humankind.

Host Pete asked Musk, "Why are you so optimistic?"

Instead of answering directly, Musk offered a more startling observation: "We are not heading towards the singularity; we are already living in the singularity."

He explained that the pace of AI progress is so fast that he is amazed several times a week—just when he thinks a breakthrough is amazing, another amazing breakthrough appears two days later; that's the power of exponential growth.

Musk predicts that AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) will be achieved in 2026, and by 2030, the intelligence level of AI will surpass that of all humankind combined.

2. The medical field is being revolutionized, rendering medical school meaningless.

In response to the current shortage of doctors and excellent surgeons, Musk predicts that within three years, the Optimus robot will become a better surgeon than any human, and that this will be applied "on a large scale".

"In the future, the best healthcare will be essentially free," Musk said.

Why is it so fast?

Musk outlined the three exponential growth advantages of robotic doctors:

• First, the AI capability index is growing;
• The second is the growth in chip performance index;
• Third is the increase in the electromechanical dexterity index.

Multiplying these three exponential curves gives us a rocket-like burst speed.

Musk added that what's more important is the "recursive effect" of robots, meaning that robots' experiences can be accumulated, and all robots share the same knowledge base.

With 10,000 robotic surgeons performing surgeries, each possesses the experience of 10,000 surgeries. They can accurately grasp every detail, including different patients, different emergencies, different complications, and even under the full spectrum of light, such as infrared, ultraviolet, and X-rays. Moreover, they will not be distracted by arguing with their families the night before, nor will they make mistakes due to hand fatigue from performing surgeries for four consecutive hours.

Musk believes that (going to medical school in the future) "makes no sense. Unless you're doing it for social reasons."

3. In the US-China AI competition, China's computing power will far surpass that of other regions.

Regarding the current AI competition, Musk asserted with great certainty that, based on current trends, China will far surpass other regions of the world in AI computing power.

He gave three key reasons:

1) Overwhelming advantage in electricity

By 2026, China's electricity generation will be three times that of the United States. Last year, China added 500 terawatt-hours of electricity, 70% of which came from solar power. Musk couldn't help but quip, "It's like they listened to everything I said and then immediately put it into action."

2) The generational gap in chips is narrowing, and Moore's Law is dead.

The chip performance only improved by 10% from 3nm to 2nm, which means that Moore's Law has failed and the United States' chip advantage is constantly decreasing, making it easier for China to catch up.

3) Unmatched execution ability

Musk admitted, "I've seen too many Chinese engineers, and when the requirements are clear, their speed and scale of execution are unimaginable."

He predicts that the final global AI competition will be between XAI, Google, and China.

4. The energy revolution and solar energy are the only answer.

Musk's stance on the prospects of solar energy is exceptionally firm:

"The sun accounts for 99.8% of the mass of the solar system. To conduct nuclear fusion on Earth is like creating ice in Antarctica—there's a free giant nuclear reactor 930,000 miles above our heads, so why would we need to build a small one on Earth?"

He proposed a three-step plan for utilizing solar energy for development:

Step 1: Double the efficiency of the existing power grid

Power plants have a lot of idle capacity at night, but not enough to meet peak daytime demand. The solution is to use Tesla's Mega Pack batteries to store idle electricity at night and release it during peak daytime demand. This would double the energy throughput without building any new power plants.

Step 2: Launching solar energy into space

The AI satellite operates in an environment where space provides 24-hour daylight, maximizing solar energy utilization. It would require approximately 8,000 launches, one per hour, to complete deployment within a year.

Step 3: Building a satellite factory on the moon

To capture solar energy on a larger scale, launching satellites from Earth alone is insufficient. Musk's ultimate plan is to build a factory on the moon, manufacture satellites using locally sourced materials, and then launch them directly into orbit from the moon.

Musk emphasized, "The currency of the future is essentially energy—with energy, you can power AI, you can create anything, and change the physical world."

5. Economy and currency: Money may no longer be important in 10-20 years.

This is one of the most mind-blowing ideas: "Don't save money for retirement."

Musk explained that in 10-20 years, either we will all be gone, or money will no longer be important.

Many people worry that AI will lead to job losses, but Musk has proposed a new concept—"Universal High Income" (UHI). This is not the government-provided "Universal Basic Income (UBI)," but rather a fundamental shift in economic logic:

AI and robotics can cause the output of goods and services to grow faster than the money supply, leading to a price crash and production costs approaching zero. When the output of goods and services grows faster than the money supply, it can cause a price crash.

Because of the abundance of material goods, everyone can easily obtain the goods and services they want.

But he also warned that the next 3-7 years will be very turbulent:

We will simultaneously experience radical change, social upheaval, and tremendous prosperity—this is an inevitable transitional period. If none of these occur, it indicates we are facing a much larger problem—such as stagnant AI development or the collapse of civilization.

6. Career and Future: Work Will Become an Option

Musk predicts that within 20 years, jobs will become optional, and AI and robots will turn jobs into "hobbies" within 10-20 years, allowing people to freely pursue their interests.

He also expressed concern about the global decline in birth rates, believing that population decline is a huge threat to the existence of civilization because "more people mean more consciousness, which helps humanity understand the universe."

7. Education and growth: The essence of learning is returning to curiosity.

Musk pointed out that the traditional education model is dead.

Because of his own poor educational experience, he dislikes the current education system – “I found school painful. It was boring, and in South Africa it was violent.”

He believes that what has driven him to keep learning over the years is "a curiosity about the nature of the universe. I'm just curious about the meaning of life and the reality we live in."

With the rapid development of AI, he frankly stated that AI can clearly become a personalized teacher. It has infinite patience and can answer all your questions. But you still need curiosity and a desire to learn. He has already launched an AI-powered personalized education pilot program in El Salvador.

At the end of the interview, Musk also admitted that he used to be very pessimistic and even suggested slowing down the development of AI on several occasions, but in the end he found that it was better to be an optimistic participant than a pessimistic bystander.

He also sincerely shared a piece of advice with everyone: "Let hope become reality!"

mutual encouragement!