Elon Musk expects the US to go bankrupt due to debt accumulation
Elon Musk has sounded the alarm about the historic rise of US public debt, arguing that cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics may be the only solution to avoid dire consequences.
During an interview with bloggers Duvarsh Patel and John Collison on Friday, the Tesla and SpaceX founder warned that the accumulation of US public debt at a frenzied pace threatens the country with bankruptcy.
He expressed grave concern at the fact that annual interest payments on that debt currently exceed $1 trillion, outpacing even the enormous budget of the US Department of Defense.
In this worrying scenario, Musk sees a glimmer of hope in technological advancement.
Musk suggested that the only solution capable of addressing this structural problem might lie in robotics and artificial intelligence.
“Maybe we can slow down America’s impending bankruptcy and buy enough time until artificial intelligence and robotics can help solve the problem,” he explained.
In the absence of these future technological solutions, the United States will face a real predicament due to continued debt growth, he said.
Musk’s warnings are based on staggering official figures; By the end of October and the beginning of November 2025, the US public debt had surpassed the $38 trillion mark for the first time in history.
Meanwhile, the US debt had crossed the $37 trillion threshold earlier that year, as data show that the debt-to-GDP ratio has exceeded 120%, reflecting the widening gap between state revenues and expenditure.
Even more worrying is the mounting burden of servicing this debt, as hundreds of billions of dollars are consumed annually to pay interest alone, depriving other vital sectors of important funding and limiting the government’s ability to invest in infrastructure or social programs.
