WASHINGTON 

Tech billionaire Elon Musk said Wednesday that artificial intelligence and humanoid robotics will dramatically reshape global society, predicting a future in which poverty is eliminated and work becomes optional.

“AI and humanoid robots will actually eliminate poverty,” Musk said at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington.

Musk, who leads companies, including electric car maker Tesla, rocket producer SpaceX and artificial intelligence startup xAI, said society should prepare for structural changes as technology progresses. He predicted that within the “long term,” which he defined as 10 to 20 years, traditional work will become unnecessary for most people.

“My prediction is that work will be optional,” he said. “It’ll be like playing sports or a video game … you can go to the store and buy vegetables, or you can grow them in your backyard. It’s much harder, but some people still do it because they like growing vegetables. That will be what work is like — optional.”

Musk also announced that xAI will partner with Saudi state-backed company Humain to build a major data center in the kingdom powered by up to 500 megawatts of electricity, the company's largest outside the US.

The project, developed in collaboration with Nvidia, was included in a broader package of military and technology agreements unveiled during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington.