Musk Reveals More About His Decision To Step Back From Politics … And It Involves Humanoid Robots

Elon Musk, who has taken a step back from his role in the Trump administration, said on Friday that he came to the “obvious conclusion” that “accelerating GDP growth is essential” to saving the United States from the national debt crisis.

Musk, whose massive donations to President Donald Trump and Republicans in 2024 helped secure the White House and Congress for the GOP, said earlier this week that he would donate “a lot less in the future” in political contributions. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has also taken a step back from his role guiding the Department of Government Efficiency to focus more on his companies.

Responding to a conversation on X about the Republicans’ “Big, Beautiful Bill,” Musk revealed more of his thinking on his decision, which he confirmed was focused on pushing for “radical” GDP growth through humanoid robots.

The conversation was sparked when one X user wrote, “Given the disastrous GOP bill, the only chance the US has is explosive GDP growth. If that doesn’t happen in the next 2-3 years, we are cooked.”

Another person replied to the post, writing, “I wonder if this [is] why Elon has somewhat moved away from politics in order to accelerate GDP growth with humanoid robots. If he believes this is the only solution then this would be his most logical choice.”

Musk, who goes by the name “Kekius Maximus” on X, responded to the second post and confirmed that it accurately depicted his thinking on the issue.

“I have come to the perhaps obvious conclusion that accelerating GDP growth is essential. @DOGE has and will do great work to postpone the day of bankruptcy of America, but the profligacy of government means that only radical improvements in productivity can save our country,” Musk wrote.

Tesla is currently developing an “autonomous humanoid robot capable of performing unsafe, repetitive or boring tasks.” Musk appears to be re-focusing on the project after spending months around the White House advising President Donald Trump and pushing to cut government spending. Last week, the Tesla CEO posted a clip of a robot dancing with human-like movements.

🕺 pic.twitter.com/NzqAmN3F5z

— Kekius Maximus (@elonmusk) May 13, 2025

In another post in April, Musk showed a video of a humanoid robot speeding up and slowing down while walking.

Accurate actuators accelerate automation pic.twitter.com/5H0uHxf7v2

— Kekius Maximus (@elonmusk) April 2, 2025

Musk believes that robots will play a major part in the global economy and have an effect on the GDP of some countries within five years. Last year, he predicted that there would be 10 billion humanoid robots on Earth by 2040, sold for $20,000 to $25,000 each. He also said in April that “robots will surpass good human surgeons within a few years and the best human surgeons within ~5 years.”

Musk’s explanation for focusing more on his companies and less on politics comes after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday morning that he is pushing to grow the economy “faster than the debt.” Bessent argued that Americans concerned with the massive federal debt should focus on the debt-to-GDP ratio “because we can grow our way out of this.”

“If we change the growth trajectory of the country, of the economy, then we will stabilize our finances and grow our way out of this,” Bessent added.