Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made a major economic prediction about the United States. The world’s richest man is optimistic that the US economy will achieve double-digit GDP growth over the next 12 to 18 months. He claimed that rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) will drive this growth. Musk’s prediction came in response to the news that the GDP in the United States grew at an annual rate of 4.3% during the third quarter of 2025. In response, he suggested that “applied intelligence” from AI will serve as the primary engine for this acceleration. He further speculated that if AI continues to scale as a proxy for productivity, triple-digit growth could be possible within approximately 5 years.In a post shared on the microblogging site X (formerly Twitter), Musk wrote: “Double-digit growth is coming within 12 to 18 months. If applied intelligence is proxy for economic growth, which it should be, triple-digit is possible in ~5 years.”The forecast came from a social media discussion that began with a post from Caleb Hammer, a member of X, about US GDP growth in Q3 2025. He wrote: “4.3% year over year GDP growth in Q3 is kinda f**king crazy. Didn’t see that coming.”
Marc Andreessen, one of the most prominent US investors and co-founder of the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, responded to this post that revealed the unexpectedly high growth for US GDP. He wrote, “It’s time to grow. 🇺🇸”. Musk’s prediction came as a reply to Andreessen’s reaction.
What’s behind Elon Musk’s double-digit US economy growth prediction
Musk’s optimism relates to his work at xAI and Tesla’s robotics division, as well as to his expectation of soon being deregulated. Although his fans see a positive change in his 2025 growth statistics, some might be a little apprehensive about it.Meanwhile, investor Mark Cuban has expressed concerns about potential wealth disparities arising from such dramatic growth. In contrast, others who hold the opposite view argue that growth at this pace may lead to spiking interest rates or debt risks. Typically, double-digit GDP growth is sporadic, except during the short-term period after a recession, as in 2020’s 34.9% high.Earlier this month, Musk also predicted that “there will be no poverty” in the coming years. Instead, he said that there will be a universal high income. Apart from this, the only tech billionaire to reach a net worth of $700 billion also stated that saving money would become unnecessary for people.Based on investors’ reactions to Ray Dalio’s post about the newly formed Trump accounts initiative, it appears Dalio appreciated it because it involves a bipartisan effort “to help young Americans learn money management skills and start saving and investing early in life.”He also thanked Michael and Susan Dell for their support of the programme. Dalio noted the initiative reflected concepts he had outlined six years earlier in “Why and How Capitalism Needs To Be Reformed.”In his X post, Dalio wrote that the Trump accounts are helpful because they teach young people basic money skills and help them learn how markets and businesses work. He said that understanding and managing money well are essential to a strong economy and that he plans to support both the accounts and the teaching programmes related to them.
Replying to this, Musk wrote, “It is certainly a nice gesture of the Dells, but there will be no poverty in the future and so no need to save money. There will be universal high income.”
