Bezos: Space Colonies & AI Abundance by 2045 — Is Humanity Ready?

Bezos Predicts Space Colonies and AI-Driven Abundance by 2045

FLORENCE, ITALY - October 9, 2025 - Jeff Bezos, the Amazon and Blue Origin founder whose net worth is estimated at over $230 billion, stated during Italian Tech Week that humanity is entering a "golden age" marked by progress in artificial intelligence and space exploration, foreseeing that millions will reside in space in the next twenty years.

Bezos described the current excitement surrounding artificial intelligence as an "industrial bubble," comparing it to the dot-com era and the 1990s biotech boom. While acknowledging the possibility that many firms within this bubble may disappear, he stressed that the foundational infrastructure and technological innovations they create will endure, deeply reshaping societal and business landscapes. He pointed to the lasting fiber-optic networks from the dot-com crash and the pharmaceutical breakthroughs that followed the biotech investment surge as historical precedents for this phenomenon. "I don't see how anybody can be discouraged who is alive right now," Bezos stated, foreseeing an era of "civilizational abundance" spurred by these technological leaps.

When it comes to space, Bezos expanded on the Moon's strategic importance, referring to it as a "gift of the Universe" and an ideal launchpad for deeper space exploration. He highlighted several benefits, such as its relatively short distance from Earth (3.5 days), unfettered launch windows, and gravity roughly one-sixth that of Earth, which markedly cuts the energy and cost required for liftoff. Moreover, the existence of water ice on the Moon is seen as a crucial resource for future missions and life-support systems.

Bezos outlined a scenario in which "millions of people will live in space" within the coming decades, specifically by 2045, pointing out that this migration would stem from preference rather than need. He forecast that advanced robotics will take on most of the labor, including transportation and specialized duties on celestial bodies. "If you need to do some work on the surface of the moon or anywhere else, we will be able to send robots to do that work and that will be much more cost effective than sending humans," he explained.

This view shares some common ground with other tech leaders. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, foresees human presence on Mars as early as 2028, with SpaceX, valued at approximately $400 billion, actively collaborating with NASA to achieve this goal. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, likewise suggested that space-related careers will become the most coveted employment opportunities within a decade, envisioning "completely new, exciting, super well-paid" jobs in orbit for future graduates.

Yet, not every high-profile individual echoes this focus on off-world expansion. Bill Gates has publicly called for focusing on problems here on Earth, stating in 2021, "Space? We have a lot to do here on Earth." Gates, though hopeful that AI could slash workweeks to perhaps two days, notes that ultimately, "the purpose of life is not just to do jobs."

Bezos's comments highlight an expanding split among tech magnates about humanity's top priorities, balancing the appeal of interplanetary settlement against nearer-term Earth issues. Nonetheless, his outlook stays steady: a future in which AI and space exploration together drive unparalleled human wealth and leisure.

The full interview with Jeff Bezos is available on YouTube.