Elon Musk Predicts the End of Smartphones: “In 5 to 6 Years, Apps Will Be Gone”

In a three-hour conversation with Joe Rogan, Musk envisions an AI-driven world where devices and jobs look nothing like today.

November 2025 — Austin, Texas. During his latest appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience (#2404), Elon Musk spent nearly three hours exploring the future of human-technology interaction, artificial intelligence, and society’s trajectory. Among his boldest claims: within five to six years, the era of smartphones and standalone apps will end.

“Phones will become obsolete,” Musk said. “They’ll just be inference terminals — a bridge between our minds and AI systems generating everything we see or hear.”

The Death of Apps and Rise of AI Interfaces

According to Musk, the traditional app ecosystem will dissolve as artificial intelligence systems learn to generate personalized interfaces and content in real time. Instead of opening apps, users will interact through continuous, context-aware AI assistants that know what they need before they ask.

“You won’t download or open anything,” Musk explained. “Everything will be generated for you, instantly — from entertainment to work to communication.”

Musk suggested that this shift will make operating systems and app stores irrelevant. He envisions a world where digital experiences are tailored on demand by neural networks, blurring the boundary between human intention and machine generation.

Work Will Become Optional — and Society Must Adapt

Musk also revisited his long-standing concern about automation and universal income. As AI and robotics replace manual and cognitive labor, he predicts a world where “work becomes a choice, not a necessity.”

While the idea sounds utopian, Musk warned of the transition shock.

“The danger isn’t that AI will hate us,” he told Rogan, “it’s that it’ll make us irrelevant faster than we can adapt.”

He emphasized that governments and institutions must start preparing for large-scale social and psychological adjustments, rather than purely economic ones.

Neuralink and the Human-Machine Merge

Naturally, Musk connected this prediction to Neuralink, his brain-computer interface company. He said Neuralink’s goal isn’t just to restore mobility or sight but to enable “symbiosis” between humans and AI.

“If your mind can communicate directly with digital intelligence, you won’t need a device in your pocket,” Musk said. “You’ll be the interface.”

When Rogan asked about the timeline, Musk estimated that the first consumer-ready integrations could appear within a decade, though he acknowledged significant ethical and safety hurdles.

A Philosophical Turn

Beyond the tech forecasts, the conversation turned philosophical. Musk questioned whether humanity is ready for “a post-scarcity world,” where creativity and meaning — not survival — define purpose.

“If AI takes care of everything, people will still need to feel useful,” he reflected. “We’ll need to find meaning that doesn’t depend on labor.”

The Takeaway

Musk’s predictions, though futuristic, fit into his broader narrative: AI will reshape every aspect of daily life — from how we communicate to why we work. His timeline may be ambitious, but his message was clear: the fusion of human cognition and artificial intelligence is no longer science fiction. It’s a countdown.

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