Opinion by: Merav Uzair, Ph.D., Senior Blockchain and AI Consultant.

Elon Musk and Peter Diamandis support the idea that “everything will be free.” They claim to believe the abundance of AI will end poverty and provide high global incomes.

Others in the massive tech ecosystem cite the coming abundance. For example, Demis Hassabis says AI could lead to a “renaissance” of “radical abundance.”

Politicians at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos were impressed by Musk’s vision. They were thrilled that their economic problems would soon be “freed.” This story is very attractive. Who doesn’t like getting stuff for free?

What does that really mean? Do all economic activities have no cost? Will all companies become altruistic and profit-seeking?

Let’s unpack the narrative.

The cost of production can be cheap, but it never reaches zero

Let’s set the record straight. In the age of abundant artificial intelligence, products and services will not arrive in a vacuum. They will still need labour, materials, energy and infrastructure.

Advances in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies may lead to very cheap energy and highly automated production. This development will bring the marginal cost of most digital and even physical goods closer to zero.

This is due to three main factors. The first is work automation, where machines and artificial intelligence handle almost all production processes, logistics, and many services. The second is advanced manufacturing and AI distribution, such as 3D printing, robotics, and AI logistics systems that dramatically reduce waste and inventory, making “enough for everyone” technically possible. And finally, abundant energy – nuclear fusion or very cheap solar energy makes energy so affordable that it does not become a bottleneck.

Because energy underlies everything physical, all other costs are reduced.

Plans are already in place. Elon Musk is now prioritizing lunar manufacturing and artificial intelligence, with a goal of producing more than 1,000 gigawatts of solar energy. Using solar energy instead of nuclear energy will reduce the cost of energy to nearly zero. The problem: The initial cost of creating infrastructure on the Moon is very high, and major challenges will need to be overcome.

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Under these circumstances, it is plausible that educational resources become more or less free to the user because they are generated by artificial intelligence and infinitely repeatable once the system is built. Much of healthcare becomes very cheap, once the proper AI and robotics infrastructure is in place.

At the level of physics and engineering, if the real bottlenecks – energy and automation – are abundant, costs will collapse, but not disappear completely.

Infrastructure is the missing layer that no one talks about

Robots and energy must operate at scale and speed to create an “abundance” of everything for everyone. That’s why it needs infrastructure.

Automation and robotics power what Jensen Hong calls “AI factories.” This is AI infrastructure, which represents a shift towards treating AI development as an industrial process, enabling organizations to continuously train and improve AI models to improve safety and efficiency.

They are specialized, high-performance computing data centers designed to “manufacture” intelligence by transforming raw data into trained AI models and code, rather than simply storing data. Using advanced GPUs and massive interconnected infrastructure, they are engines for AI applications such as self-driving vehicles, robotics, and generative AI.

AI factories are expensive. They need a lot of money to build and operate. Companies that have already created the infrastructure will continue to grow and improve. For example, Nvidia is five times more profitable than IBM was in the 1980s, with only one-tenth the number of employees. Productivity and profits will increase, because AI significantly enhances efficiency. Investments will go to those who own AI models, platforms and especially infrastructure.

This will lead to the largest concentration of wealth in history.

Key players include technology giants such as Nvidia, AWS and SpaceX. They will continue to dominate the market, making it difficult for new entrants to compete.

Governments are also involved. China is using its massive solar energy capacity to fuel its energy-intensive artificial intelligence boom. This creates a unique “AI and energy” ecosystem. Here, artificial intelligence improves renewable energy generation, while solar energy supports data centers. China is seen as a leader in the use of renewable energy.

Cheap energy is not cheap

Energy is the fuel that runs AI factories, and it is the engine of all the robotics, automation, and AI applications that will generate abundance. Energy fuels infrastructure, and infrastructure powers AI applications. Therefore, energy is the real bottleneck. Without cheap energy, this “free” theory fails.

Currently, electricity is the primary form of energy used to power infrastructure. China is aggressively integrating renewable energy into its infrastructure, and other regions are expanding renewable-powered energy in data centers as well. Generating electricity and grid capacity for AI-scale infrastructure is very expensive and not scalable. To reach widespread abundance, energy must be very cheap and scalable.

What are the options?

Fission energy is a type of nuclear energy. It is fully mature, provides stable energy, but produces radioactive waste. It carries the risk of nuclear proliferation, and safety concerns regarding meltdowns. It is cheaper than current sources of electricity based on fossil fuels, but it still has a tangible cost and, like other sources of electricity, is limited and not scalable.

Fusion power involves combining light atoms to produce energy, mimicking the sun, while conventional nuclear power splits heavy atoms. Fusion provides virtually limitless cleaner energy without long-term high-level waste.

Fusion is inherently safer with no risk of a runaway chain reaction.

But the caveat is that fission is what is currently being used. Creating nuclear fusion to generate power is very expensive, requires an initial investment of hundreds of billions of dollars, is still experimental and will likely take decades before it becomes commercially viable on a large scale.

Unlike nuclear fission, nuclear fusion is scalable. It’s cheap but it doesn’t cost zero. Someone has to pay the upfront costs of building, constructing and then maintaining the infrastructure.

Elon Musk is going to the moon

Lunar solar energy provides ample energy without atmospheric problems. However, the costs of launching, building and maintaining them are high in a vacuum. Musk’s plan is to move all production, including the AI ​​factory, to the moon.

The Moon has low gravity and lots of resources, making it the cheapest place for AI infrastructure.

Robots will rehabilitate and build infrastructure. Humans will come to supervise and expand, while AI data centers will fuel the space economy.

And with Starlink, SpaceX, Optimus robots, and xAI, Musk is in a strong position to make it happen.

However, advanced AI chip-making machines need to reach the moon. These bus-sized machines require very precise conditions.

The solution is a new method called atomic micromachining (APM). This builds atom by atom and is consistent with Musk’s “first principle” thinking.

If successful, this could release unlimited solar energy and raw materials from the Moon and asteroids. There will be no thermal limitations or atmospheric interference.

This could lead to limitless, low-cost artificial intelligence. Experts say that if the moon is successful, it could create an opportunity worth a trillion dollars, or even hundreds of trillions.

Who will benefit most from this $100 trillion opportunity? Will it be shared fairly?

Soft “free” prison

When you have centralized infrastructure and systems, who owns the infrastructure determines the terms of engagement. Strong, centralized systems can provide large-scale “free” services, but in return they often require high control over speech, movement, data, and economic choices. Non-authoritarian welfare states may trade some individual autonomy for security and guaranteed services. Many of today’s “free” digital services are funded by surveillance, profiling and behavioral manipulation – your data and attention are the real price.

In a world of abundant AI, the infrastructure may be owned by the government. They may be owned by companies. It can be owned through a public-private partnership. Either way, the infrastructure is centralized, and central power will dictate the terms of distribution—how AI abundance is distributed, who gets what, and under what conditions. If they wish, they can suddenly “close the valve” and nothing is distributed to either an individual or a group. Your dependence on their services becomes a “soft prison” devoid of your independence and self-sovereignty.

It may be a $100 trillion opportunity, but the owner of the central infrastructure will get the lion’s share and dictate what gets to the masses.

They say if something is “free,” you are the product. This remains true in a world of absolute abundance. In this world, the product is your self-sovereignty.

Opinion by: Merav Uzair, Ph.D., Senior Blockchain and AI Consultant.