Elon Musk Claims Living Forever Is 'Highly Likely' While Taking A Jab At Donald Trump

Elon Musk chose Davos to make one of his boldest predictions yet: that ageing is a 'very solvable problem' and that extending human life — perhaps even reversing the clock — is 'highly likely.' Yet in the same breath, he warned that a world where people live far longer, or never die at all, could become stagnant, unequal and, ultimately, deeply strange.

Elon Musk Ageing Prediction: 'Highly Likely' We Extend Human Life

Speaking onstage at the World Economic Forum in Davos in a conversation with BlackRock chief Larry Fink, Musk admitted he has not devoted huge time to longevity research, but still believes science is closing in on the root cause of ageing. 'I haven't put much time into ageing stuff,' he said. 'I do think it is a very solvable problem when we figure out what causes ageing, I think we'll find it's incredibly obvious, not a subtle thing.'

He pointed to a simple observation that has captured the imagination of both technologists and biologists. 'The reason why I say it's not a subtle thing is that all the cells in your body pretty much age at the same rate, I've never seen someone with an old left arm and a young right arm, so why is that?' Musk said. 'That means there must be a clock, a synchronising clock, that is synchronising across 35 trillion cells in your body.'​

For Musk, that hypothetical 'clock' is the key. If scientists can locate and ultimately reset or slow that mechanism, he believes humanity could dramatically extend healthy lifespan — and possibly even reverse some aspects of ageing. 'Do I think we will figure out ways to extend life and maybe even reverse ageing — I think that is highly likely,' he told the Davos audience.

His remarks chime with a wave of research into so‑called biological clocks and longevity biotech, though experts caution that major ethical and social questions would follow any genuine breakthrough.

Why Musk Says 'Living Forever' Could Break Society

For all his optimism, Musk was careful to stress that death still serves a purpose. 'There is some benefit to death, by the way,' he said. 'There is a reason why we don't have a longer life span, because if people do live forever or a very long time, then I think there is some risk of an ossification of society, of things getting locked in place.'​

He warned that a world of near‑immortals could 'become stultifying, lacking vibrancy', with power, wealth and ideas freezing around the same entrenched elites. In that scenario, younger generations might struggle to break through, and political or corporate leadership could become almost impossible to dislodge.

Musk's worry echoes longstanding philosophical arguments: if nobody ever leaves the stage, renewal slows, and with it the capacity for radical change.​

That tension — between the human desire to live longer and the collective need for renewal — sits at the heart of Musk's comments. As he framed it, the real question is not just whether we can slow ageing, but whether societies can adapt quickly enough to avoid hardening into something rigid and brittle if we do.

Elon Musk Takes Aim At Trump's 'Board Of Peace'

Musk's Davos appearance was not limited to futurist speculation. He also used the platform to take a wry swipe at Donald Trump's latest diplomatic project, the so‑called Board of Peace, announced by the US president as a new vehicle for ceasefire talks in the Israel–Hamas conflict and, potentially, a rival to the United Nations.

Opening his discussion with Fink, Musk joked that when he heard about the new body, he wondered if it was really about 'peace' or 'piece.' 'I heard about the formation of the Peace Summit and I thought is that piece or ... a little piece of Greenland, a little piece of Venezuela,' he said, referencing Trump's past interest in acquiring territory and prompting a mixture of awkward silence and nervous laughter in the room.​

Trump has claimed that 'everyone wants to be a part' of his Board of Peace, but in reality several key allies are keeping their distance. The UK has so far refused to sign up, with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper citing concerns about potential Russian involvement and describing the project as a legal structure that 'raises broader issues' well beyond Gaza. Musk's quip played into those anxieties, casting the initiative as part peace vehicle, part geopolitical land‑grab.

The dig was notable given Musk's own political journey. He was a prominent Trump backer during the 2024 campaign and briefly headed the administration's Department of Government Efficiency, a pet project that critics later mocked for failing to deliver meaningful reforms.

After Musk stepped down, relations between the two men reportedly cooled, and his Davos remarks hinted at a more arm's‑length, sometimes mocking stance towards the president's more grandiose schemes.

In Davos, then, Musk managed to do two things at once: sketch a future where humans may radically extend their time on Earth, and remind his audience that even the most powerful leaders remain fixated on carving out their own 'piece' of it — however long they get to stay.