Peter Thiel Says Elon Musk Vision Of A Billion Humanoid Robots In Ten Years Makes All The Hand-Wringing Over Deficits Look 'Unthought-Through'

Billionaire investor Peter Thiel says Elon Musk's plan for "a billion humanoid robots in the U.S. in 10 years" collides with the Tesla chief's alarm over ballooning federal deficits, proof, Thiel argues, that Musk hasn't “thought through" the proposition just yet.

What Happened: In a recent New York Times "Interesting Times" interview, Thiel recalled telling his longtime friend, "If that's true, you don't need to worry about the budget deficits because we're going to have so much growth," only to find Musk "still worried about the budget deficits."

He added that Musk's anxiety "suggests … there are big error bars around it."

Musk has repeatedly championed mass automation. He backed forecasts of one billion humanoid robots worldwide by the 2040s and, at Cannes last year, even floated the idea of 20 billion units globally.

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Yet the Tesla Inc. TSLA and SpaceX chief spent the past week torching President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," branding the $5 trillion package an "insane spending bill," vowing to bankroll primary challengers and teasing a new "America Party." He warns that unchecked deficits could "bankrupt the country" before robotics eases the fiscal load.

Why It Matters: Thiel's critique lands amid his criticism about technological stagnation and end-times politics, signaling a split on the tech right over whether exponential growth alone can erase red ink. Thiel also revealed that concerns about AI and political interference reportedly thwarted Elon Musk's Mars political project in 2024, Peter Thiel revealed.

Tesla's Optimus prototype, still tele-operated in demos such as a laundry-folding video, lags Boston Dynamics' Atlas but could sell for under $20,000 once mass-produced, Musk says.

The Congressional Budget Office pegs Trump's bill as a $2.4 trillion deficit add-on, largely via tax cuts favoring higher earners. Musk insists only "radical productivity gains" will bridge that gap.

Photo Courtesy: Mark Reinstein on Shutterstock.com

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