Elon Musk said AI could create a future where all of humanity is wealthy. Bill Gates and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have less radical ideas of what the future may hold. Getty Images and AP Photo Updated 2026-05-10T08:59:01.245Z What if AI doesn't just change the future of work but eliminates it entirely? Elon Musk has referred to this possible future as "universal high income." Musk isn't the only name in tech to ponder just how different work could be in a post-AI world. Is this heaven? No, this is the AI future — well, at least the one where we're not all dead. Wall Street spent most of 2025 worrying about the AI bubble , but increasingly, those in and around Big Tech and AI are discussing a scenario where their wildest dreams have become reality. In this future, work itself is a luxury. A universal basic income , the concept popularized by then-Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang in 2020, would be flipped on its head.…