Musk says AI and robots are the only way to solve the U.S. national debt problem.

Musk said in a recent podcast interview with biographer Walter Isaacson that the work of the "Department of Government Efficiency," which he once led, ultimately fizzled out; that experience proved that trying to "solve the deficit problem from inside the government simply doesn't work." "The only way to solve the national debt problem is AI and robots. You can't solve this problem just by 'saving money,'" Musk said. The interview comes from a new podcast series set to premiere next Tuesday. Musk said that neither the White House, the House of Representatives, the Senate, nor the judiciary has any willingness to cut spending. "Fundamentally, no one in power in the governmentperhaps with the exception of a very small number of people like Rand Paulreally wants to cut spending." "If the president could make this a top priority, maybe we could do it," Musk added, "but if you try to solve the deficit problem and eliminate wasteful spending, you make a lot of enemies. President Trump wants to be popular; he doesn't want to see people showing up to complain because certain funding has been cut." Musk acknowledged that he "really got a bit carried away" at the time, which led him to be away from his companies for "too long." "I should have stepped back more," he added, "and perhaps only stayed for a month or two"rather than the four months he actually spent at the White House. "I should have returned earlier and put my energy back into AI."