Musk warns: AI will make us all "retire", and living on Mars will be more brutal than expected.

Recently, in an exclusive interview with Katie Miller, a former colleague of the U.S. Government Efficiency Department and an advisor to President Trump, Elon Musk engaged in a cross - field intellectual dialogue on topics such as AI and the future of humanity, Mars colonization, the double - edged sword of technology, and the direction of civilization.

Musk predicted that if AI and robotics continue to develop, humanity may enter an era where "there is no need to worry about work," and work will become an option rather than a necessity. Meanwhile, he bluntly stated that AI is the "theme of his nightmares" and warned of the existential risks that the acceleration of technology may bring.

Musk also elaborated on his vision of a "multi - planetary civilization," emphasizing that Mars is not an escape pod for the wealthy but a high - risk, high - challenge "hardcore testing ground."

When talking about his daily life, he revealed that he sleeps only six hours a day on average, spending most of his time on information screening and prioritization, and due to security concerns, he can no longer appear in ordinary public places.

From the Starship revolution to the mental corrosion of short - videos, from the Starbase to his daily diet, Musk outlined a future picture full of contradictions and possibilities in the conversation - humanity stands at the critical point of a technological explosion and also faces fundamental choices for the continuation of civilization.

The following are the highlights of Musk's latest interview:

01 Will AI and robots replace human jobs?

Question: You once predicted that in the future, with the help of AI and robots, people will no longer have to worry about money or work, and AI will take care of everything. Can you specifically explain what you mean by "no need to work in the future"?

Musk: If technology maintains its current development momentum, then AI and robots will ultimately be able to perform all production and service tasks that we expect them to do. From an economic perspective, they will be capable of providing all the goods and services needed to meet social demands, making labor for obtaining means of subsistence no longer an activity that everyone must engage in.

Question: If people don't have to work, what will they do with their free time?

Musk: People will be free to use their time as they wish and do whatever they want. Work will become a personal choice rather than a necessity for survival. However, it needs to be clarified that this is a possibility I deduced based on the current situation, not my personal vision. In fact, if possible, I would prefer to see the development pace of AI and robotics slow down. But the reality is that regardless of my or others' wishes, this technology seems to be advancing at high speed with its own strong inertia, and currently, there is no effective way to slow it down.

Question: Has AI ever kept you up at night?

Musk: There was indeed such a stage in the past, but the situation has changed now. It's hard to say what specific thing would make me lose sleep now, but if there's anything that could still be the stuff of nightmares, it's still about AI.

Question: What is your greatest irrational fear?

Musk: I consciously train myself not to fall into irrational fears. Once I detect the budding of such emotions, I will actively restrain them. Because in my view, fear can confine thinking and gradually drain the vitality of the mind.

02 Daily life: Sleeping only six hours a day on average and spending most of the time screening information

Question: How many hours do you sleep on average every night?

Musk: About six hours. You can actually infer this from the time pattern of my social media posts. In fact, someone has specifically analyzed my active periods, so they can clearly distinguish when I'm resting and when I'm working. I once tried to compress my sleep time to less than six hours. Although I was awake for longer, my cognitive efficiency decreased significantly. According to the actual monitoring of my mobile app, my natural sleep duration is about 5 hours and 56 minutes on average.

Question: How do you typically arrange your day?

Musk: The core task of my day is actually to process a huge amount of incoming information. In essence, this is an uninterrupted process of information screening and prioritization.

For this reason, I try to use time - segmented management to reduce the huge cognitive loss caused by task switching. In my opinion, what really impairs thinking efficiency may not be "fear" but this frequent "context switching." When your inbox is full, it becomes extremely difficult to stay focused. Imagine if you have to switch your focus of attention every three minutes or even every thirty seconds, the cognitive load is incredibly high.

I need to switch between completely different dimensions in my daily life, such as Tesla, X, SpaceX, and personal affairs, and each company is filled with countless to - do items. In addition, new information flows are constantly emerging on social media, and sometimes there are even shocking social events, which will make you involuntarily wonder: what on earth is happening in this world?

Question: When was the last time you did something very ordinary, like going to the supermarket or the pharmacy?

Musk: I can no longer appear in ordinary public places. Once I show up, I will almost immediately be surrounded by crowds, with endless requests for selfies and group photos. Especially after the recent murder of Charlie Kirk, the security issue has become particularly serious. It's not that I don't want to, but the reality doesn't allow it.

(Note: Kirk was a well - known conservative activist in the United States and a political ally of President Trump. He was shot and killed on September 10, 2025, during a speech at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, at the age of 31.)

Question: Did this incident change your security strategy, or were you already on high alert?

Musk: This incident undoubtedly made me more acutely aware of the severity of my situation. My current life is like being in a "hardcore mode": the margin for error is extremely low, and a single critical mistake could lead to irreparable consequences.

Question: If you could choose, which moment in your life would you like to relive just to feel it again?

Musk: The most precious moments are, of course, when my children were born. In addition, the moment when SpaceX first successfully entered orbit and when the first Tesla electric vehicle really took off are also unforgettable for me. There are actually many such moments.

03 Interstellar reality: Mars is not an escape pod but a high - risk testing ground

Question: There are many major projects in progress, such as the Starship. Can you talk about their progress?

Musk: The technological revolution contained in the Starship has not yet been fully understood worldwide. It is the first rocket design in human history that is expected to achieve complete and rapid reusability, and it can even be said to be the first truly "fully reusable spacecraft" architecture. From an engineering possibility perspective, its success has changed from a distant dream to an achievable real - world goal.

Question: Do you mean the V3 version of the Starship or the previous V2?

Musk: In theory, the V2 version can also achieve reusability, but we chose to fully upgrade to V3 because it has significant performance improvements. There are about ten thousand or even more improvements in V3 compared to V2.

However, the far - reaching significance of the Starship goes far beyond this. If future historians look back at our era, they are likely to regard the birth and success of the Starship as an extremely profound turning point in human civilization history.

We can try to place major historical breakthroughs in a grand "evolutionary lineage" for review: for example, from the emergence of single - celled life to the birth of multicellular organisms; from cells obtaining mitochondria through endosymbiosis and thus having independent and efficient energy sources, to the differentiation of animals and plants and life moving from the ocean to the land...

In this grand narrative measured in billions of years, the achievement of life becoming a cross - planetary species may well rank among the top ten in the history of life evolution.

A truly sustainable "multi - planetary" civilization means far more than just visiting another planet. It means establishing a civilization branch with substantial redundancy in the interstellar space. In this way, even if one planet encounters a major disaster, the other branch can still ensure the survival of civilization.

Question: Do all your companies operate around the common goal of "making humanity a multi - planetary species"? Is the development of AI to serve life on Mars or mainly focus on the current needs of Earth?

Musk: The core mission of Tesla is to make life on Earth more sustainable and better. The same goes for xAI and other AI projects. Because the premise of a "multi - planetary civilization" is that Earth must remain prosperous, and we also need another planet as a backup.

Many people, limited by traditional thinking, regard migrating to Mars as "escaping from Earth" or a "refuge for the wealthy." But in fact, early Mars settlement will be extremely dangerous, at least much more dangerous than on Earth, and the same is true for lunar bases.

Therefore, those who go to Mars or the Moon in the early days to make life a multi - planetary species will face a much higher risk of death than those who stay on Earth. Moreover, their living environment will be cramped and uncomfortable, the food will be far less delicious than on Earth, the risk of death will be significantly increased, and they will have to work extremely hard, and success is not guaranteed.

04 Fashion stagnation: Why have we lost the ability to iterate?

Question: You have mentioned your dissatisfaction with contemporary wardrobe styles on social platforms many times. What do you think is the most core problem in the fashion field currently?

Musk: I think fashion has long been stagnant and has even lost the motivation for self - evolution. My son Saxon once asked me: "Why does everything still look like it did in 2015?" He's right. If you label a photo from 2015 as 2025, almost no one can tell the difference. In the past decade, we have made almost no substantial progress in style.

Question: So in your opinion, what direction should future fashion styles develop in?

Musk: I think the key lies in creating designs with truly new forms. Looking back at the 20th century, each decade had a distinct style wave: the hippie and space trends in the 1960s, the Bohemian and disco aesthetics in the 1970s, the exaggerated structures and power suits in the 1980s, and the minimalist and street cultures that emerged in the 1990s. But since the 21st century, the pace of fashion style iteration has significantly slowed down, and the iconic visual language of the era has become increasingly blurred.

If we look at the portraits from the 18th and 19th centuries, we will find that the clothing of political figures at that time was actually very individual and expressive - high collars, neckerchiefs, embroidered coats... These designs still have a lot of appeal even from today's perspective. In contrast, the dressing of global elites today is almost unified in monotonous dark suits, as if confined by an invisible template.

Frankly speaking, the current mainstream men's fashion style has no essential difference compared to 2010, and even when compared to 2000, the changes are quite limited.

05 Responding to moon - landing doubts: The flag can move without wind, but the moon has gravity

Question: Do you have any conspiracy theories that you agree with?

Musk: Can you still find a conspiracy theory that hasn't come true? In my opinion, those statements once dismissed as "conspiracy theories" often turn out to have some real - world basis. As for aliens, I have repeatedly confirmed with the core team at SpaceX, and no one has evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial life. People often ask me this question, but at least within our scope of contact, the answer is no.

Question: What about UFOs (unidentified flying objects)?

Musk: "UFO" only means that the object has not been identified. It could be a new type of hypersonic weapon, an experimental aircraft, or other technological projects. This is completely different from extraterrestrial life. However, it's interesting that the initials of Neil Armstrong (the first NASA astronaut to step on the moon), when spelled backwards, are exactly "Alien." Is this just a coincidence?

Question: Do you believe that humans really landed on the moon?

Musk: Of course. We landed on the moon more than once, and we even played golf on the moon. When you're a bit bored in a place, you'll always find something to do.

Question: But why does the flag on the moon seem not to move? This is a common point of doubt.

Musk: The moon has one - sixth of the Earth's gravity, so objects will fall, just much more slowly. There is no atmosphere, so there is no wind to move the flag, but the vibration of the flagpole will make the flag surface appear to be fluttering. Science has already explained all this.

06 The inevitability from "Starlink" and "Starship" to "Starbase"

Question: What is the origin of the concept of Starbase?

Musk: We need a physical entity to carry our dreams. Since we already have "Starlink" and "Starship," then where should the Starship take off from? "Starbase" became the natural answer.

It may be the most futuristic place on Earth. It was originally just a sandbar on the banks of the Rio Grande, with an average altitude of only about 1 meter. We built a giant rocket factory and a group of launch towers here, transforming this river sandbar into the starting point of interstellar navigation.

More importantly, we gave it the legal status of a city, which is extremely rare in modern times. The last time a city was established under corporate leadership may date back to Disney World. Walt Disney turned a Florida wilderness into a "world," and we turned a sandbar into a base to reach other worlds.

Question: You seem to go to Disney World often?

Musk: At least ten times. After all, the Cape Canaveral Launch Site is nearby. After taking my children to watch rocket launches each time, going to Disney or the Harry Potter theme park has become a traditional activity.

Question: Which amusement ride is your favorite?

Musk: Maybe Space Mountain - although it urgently needs an update. The current experience is a bit outdated. What once represented "Tomorrowland" now seems like "yesterday's tomorrow."

Question: Which stage of your children's growth do you particularly enjoy?

Musk: From 5 to 10 years old. Children at this stage are the most interesting!

Question: Do you think human nature is inherently good, or are people just trying to be good?

Musk: The concept of "good" exists because of humanity. Starting from this definition, I think human nature generally tends towards goodness. I prefer to think about this problem on a cosmic scale: increasing the total amount of consciousness in the universe may itself be a kind of "good." Because only through the expansion of consciousness can we more deeply understand the nature of the universe.

07 The double - edged sword of technology: From "mental corrosion" to "existential crisis"

Question: Is there any invention that you think has more negative than positive impacts on humanity?

Musk: Short - videos may be one of them. It seems to be eroding people's ability for in - depth thinking.

Question: What technologies do you hope will never be invented?

Musk: I hope that technologies that can completely destroy the overall consciousness of humanity will never appear. For example, a virus that can end all life is a very dangerous extreme example.

However, I'm not pessimistic about technology itself. I have an observation: the most interesting future scenarios are