Musk says he found ‘magic money computers’ printing money ‘out of thin air’

US government cost-cutting csar Elon Musk claims to have found at least 14 “magic money computers” in the federal government with the ability to send money from nothing.

Musk said the computers, which exist in several federal departments, including the Treasury, Defense and Health and Human Services departments, can essentially issue payments and send money from nothing.

“You may think that the government computers all talk to each other, they’re synchronized, they add up what funds are going where, and it’s coherent and that the numbers you’re presented as a senator are the real numbers,” Musk said in a March 17 episode of Senator Ted Cruz’s podcast Verdict with Ted Cruz.

An absolute bombshell from @elonmusk on the latest episode of Verdict.

He reveals there are 14 magic money computers in the federal government that send money out of nothing.

Don’t miss the latest episode of Verdict wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe now!… pic.twitter.com/1tnJmJtiw9

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 17, 2025

However, Musk said this isn’t the case. 

“They’re not totally wrong, but they’re probably off by 5% or 10% in some cases. So I call it ‘magic money computer’ — any computer that can make money out of thin air. That’s magic money.”

Jameson Lopp, the chief security officer at Bitcoin (BTC) custody company Casa, said in the video comments that “Bitcoin fixes this.” 

Bitcoin advocates have long touted the cryptocurrency’s ability to hedge against currency devaluation, as Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million coins, while fiat supply can increase with more “printing.” 

Related: DOGE proposes slashing Internal Revenue Service staff by 20%

Musk says his latest DOGE efforts have also uncovered that US government departments have more media, software subscriptions, and credit cards than they do people working there — in some cases, up to double. 

However, he thinks 80% of cases are waste and incompetence rather than a malicious scheme because, in some instances, companies are being sent money by mistake. Then nobody from the government is asking for the money back. 

“We saw a lot of payments going out of Treasury that had no payment code and no explanation for the payment, and then we’re trying to figure out what that payment is,” Musk said. 

“Then we see that, okay, that contract was supposed to be shut off, but someone forgot to shut off that contract, and so the company kept getting money. Now, is that waste or fraud?”

Musk’s other business ventures have suffered due to his DOGE work. Tesla facilities around the US have been vandalized as part of a broader “Take down Tesla” movement protesting DOGE’s cost-cutting measures. 

Magazine: Elon Musk’s plan to run government on blockchain faces uphill battle