Following Donald Trump‘s White House takeover, Elon Musk has been reshaping the federal government as the head of DOGE.
Now, he claims that he has found a few “magic money computers,” that can make money “out of the thin air.” The bombshell claims from the Tesla owner came during his latest podcast appearance on March 17. He said that he has found at least 14 of these computers, which exist in several federal departments, including the Human Services, Health, Treasury, and Defense agencies. These “magic money” machines have the ability to issue payments and send money from nothing.
While appearing on Senator Ted Cruz’s Verdict with Ted Cruz, Musk said, “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.”
However, the tech billionaire insists that it isn’t the case as he emphasizes, “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.”
In addition, Elon Musk revealed that, with his latest efforts as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, he found something shocking. The federal departments have almost double the number of credit cards, media, and software subscriptions than the number of workers. However, he thinks that more than some malicious schemes, these are essentially just a big waste and incompetence on their part. He said he had uncovered some instances where money had been sent mistakenly to some companies, but nobody from the departments had made initiatives to get them back.
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
Musk elaborated, “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.” He continued that there were instances where a contract was supposed to have been terminated, but someone forgot to shut it off. As a result, the entities kept receiving the money. “Now is that waste or fraud?” asks Elon.
Following Musk’s claim about the “magic money computers,” the chief security officer at Bitcoin custody company Casa, Jameson Lopp, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Bitcoin fixes this.”
His comment echoes numerous BTC advocates who has been long vocal about how the cryptocurrency is able to safeguard against currency devaluation. While fiat currency supply increases with more printing, BTC’s supply is capped at 21 million coins.
Bitcoin fixes this.https://t.co/1gUJmRHkgh
— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) March 17, 2025
Notably, since Elon Musk began his DOGE efforts, his other ventures have suffered significantly. As part of the “Take Down Tesla” protest, many of his facilities and showrooms have been vandalized, while expensive models have also been set on fire by vandals.