Elon Musk said artificial intelligence could lift U.S. economic growth from roughly 2% to 4% or higher next year, a forecast he described as a guess. The projection exceeds Federal Reserve policymakers’ outlook of 2.4% growth for 2027, while officials forecast 2.3% growth this year and estimate the economy’s long-run potential at 2.0%. Real GDP grew at annualized rates of 1.5% in the second quarter and 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The forecast comes as AI investment accelerates: U.S. AI-related capital expenditure could reach about 3% of GDP annually from 2027 to 2029, up from roughly 0.6% three years earlier, while Moody’s analysts expect U.S. technology companies to spend nearly $1 trillion on chips and data centers by 2027. Mainstream forecasters remain cautious, with Morningstar expecting U.S. growth to slow by 2027. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate to 4.00% on September 16, and Goldman Sachs expects another increase in October. Strong August consumer spending provides near-term support, but higher rates could make it harder for smaller companies to adopt AI. Musk’s business interests in Tesla’s autonomous-driving and robotics operations and in xAI have also drawn scrutiny because he did not disclose them in his post. California and Washington officials are separately pursuing tighter AI safeguards, including an executive order advancing an AI kill switch, independent auditors at leading AI companies and calls for stronger legislation.