Elon Musk is known for sweeping predictions, but his latest comments push into one of the most sensitive frontiers of science: extending the human lifespan.
In an interview on the Moonshots with Peter Diamandis podcast last week, the 54-year-old Tesla CEO suggested that aging is less a mystery than a technical challenge — and one he believes can be solved.
“You’re pre-programmed to die,” Musk said. “And so if you change the program, you will live longer.”
A “clock” behind aging?
Musk’s argument rests on a simple observation: the body tends to age as a coordinated whole. If aging were purely random, he reasoned, different tissues would drift apart — yet that’s not what we see.
“When you consider the fact that your body is extremely synchronized in its age, the clock must be incredibly obvious,” he said. “Nobody has an old left arm and a young right arm. Why is that? What’s keeping them all in sync?”
Researchers have pointed to multiple forces that influence synchronized aging across the body, including genetics and hormonal signaling — a complex web that can affect many tissues at once.
Medicine meets AI and robotics
Musk also framed his longevity comments within a broader view of medicine’s future, where artificial intelligence and robotics could dramatically reshape care. He predicted humanoid robots may outperform human surgeons — and raise the quality of medical treatment within five years.
Automation has already changed parts of healthcare, he said, pointing to LASIK, a procedure that uses computer-guided lasers to reshape the cornea and improve vision.
“I wouldn’t want the best ophthalmologist with the steadiest hand out there with a hand laser on my eyeball,” Musk said. “It’s going to be like that.”
In his view, robots such as Tesla’s Optimus could eventually execute procedures with precision that reduces the risk of human error — and makes elite-level care broadly available.
“Everyone will have access to medical care that is better than what the president receives right now,” he said.
A tension with his own past views
Even as Musk talks confidently about extending lifespan, he has previously expressed unease about the societal consequences of people living much longer. He has also said he would rather not reach 100 if that meant living with dementia or becoming dependent on others.
“If we live for too long, I think it ossifies society,” he said. “There’s no changing of the leadership because leadership never dies.”
