Elon Musk, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Sahil Lavignia discuss ways to boost population, moot 'synthetic wombs'

After billionaire Elon Musk expressed concern about “population collapse”, saying that if there are not enough people for Earth, there certainly will not be enough for Mars, many people chimed in with suggestions for the Tesla chief , including the use of synthetic or artificial wombs that could potentially develop a foetus outside the human body.

Elon Musk, who is also the founder of aerospace company SpaceX, has often spoken about his dream of building cities on Mars. The world’s richest man believes that settling humans on other planets could preserve the civilisation if Earth were to experience a cataclysm. Making life multi-planetary is the founding principle of SpaceX.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Musk said the world should be much more worried about “population collapse”.

Vitalik Buterin, the 27-year-old crypto billionaire and the co-founder of ethereum, pointed out that disparities in economic success between men and women are far larger when marriage and children are factored in. “Synthetic wombs would remove the high burden of pregnancy, significantly reducing the inequality,” he tweeted, replying to Musk.

“We should be investing in technology that makes having kids much faster/easier/cheaper/more accessible. Synthetic wombs, etc,” tweeted Sahil Lavingia, the Indian-origin founder and CEO of Gumroad, a start-up that allows creators to earn money by helping them monetise their work.