Jeff Bezos reveals his vision for America's next frontier — from AI to the moon

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos laid out a sweeping vision for America’s future Wednesday, telling Fox News the U.S. must beat China to the moon, artificial intelligence (AI) could help families get by with less work and data centers could one day operate in space.

In an exclusive interview with chief political anchor Bret Baier on "Special Report," Bezos outlined his ambitions for Blue Origin and AI while pushing back on politicians who cast billionaires as villains.

"Success is not villainy," Bezos said.

The interview took place on Blue Origin’s factory floor in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as Fox News Channel marked its 30th anniversary.

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Bezos said the U.S. must prevail in the race against China to land humans on the moon, expressing confidence that an American landing is possible in 2028.

"We have to beat China to the moon, and I believe we will beat China to the moon," he said.

He said NASA and Blue Origin are focused on the goal, with cargo deliveries needed to support a sustained human presence.

"We have to be able to land cargo routinely on the moon to support a lunar base on the moon," Bezos said. "So, there’s a lot of work to be done, but there’s every reason to believe that we can put humans on the moon in 2028."

While Mars remains a destination, Bezos argued against skipping the moon, describing it as "a gift" because of its proximity to Earth and resources that could support future missions.

"We’ll go to Mars. We’ll do all the other things. But we need to go to the moon first," he said.

Bezos said lunar soil could be used to manufacture solar cells and oxygen produced on the moon could serve as rocket propellant. The goal, he said, should be to establish a lasting presence.

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"It won’t just be a mission and leave," he said. "It’ll be a real sustainable lunar base."

Blue Origin is also preparing to return its New Glenn rocket to flight in December, Bezos said, after an explosion during an engine test in May that Baier detailed during the broadcast.

Bezos praised the team for repairing the launch pad, saying the next flight will carry Blue Ring, a vehicle designed to transport payloads into different orbits and farther into space.

Asked about plans to increase launches from one pad from 12 to 50 annually, Bezos said Blue Origin is building three additional pads. His long-term ambitions are far greater.

"Our goal is to fly every day," he said. "And, then, once we’re flying every day, we want to fly every hour. And then once we’re flying every hour, we want to fly every minute."

That final goal, he acknowledged, draws skepticism from his own team.

"They think I’m crazy," Bezos said. "But I’ve seen crazy things before come true."

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Bezos said he has personally invested $28 billion in Blue Origin and that the company recently raised $10 billion from outside investors for the first time. He also said an initial public offering could come several years from now.

"I didn’t really want to take outside investors until I was sure that it would be a good investment for them," he said.

His vision for AI is similarly ambitious, with Bezos predicting productivity gains could allow some families to live on one income or support themselves with a shorter workweek.

"Some people will also decide, you know what? I can support my family by working three days a week," he said. "That’s what productivity in the economy means."

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Bezos argued those gains could create a labor shortage as Americans choose to work less.

"It’s going to actually be difficult to hire people because the productivity in the economy is going to make it so that if people don’t want to work two jobs, they won’t have to," he said.

Baier challenged that prediction, pointing to roughly 30,000 corporate roles Amazon had cut since late last year.

Bezos said Amazon was in a "very special position" after substantially expanding its workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He acknowledged public fears about AI’s impact on jobs but said he disagreed with those predicting a more troubling outcome.

At Prometheus, where Bezos is a co-founder and co-CEO, he said the goal is to develop an "artificial general engineer" that helps people turn ideas into physical products.

"We’re going to make the tools so easy to use that anyone will be able to be an engineer," he said.

Bezos said AI could generate double-digit productivity gains across the economy. Asked whether the industry is in an investment bubble, he said it is "very hard to know," but he argued that useful technology can survive even when investors lose money.

"The inventions don’t disappear when the bubble pops," he said, pointing to lifesaving drugs developed during the biotechnology boom and fiber-optic cables laid during the internet boom.

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On government oversight, Bezos urged a light approach while the technology is developing, with rules focused on harmful uses.

"In the beginning stages, when technologies are new, a light hand is appropriate," he said.

"You don’t want to regulate knives. You want to regulate murder," Bezos added, arguing that policymakers should target dangerous applications and bad actors rather than restrict the underlying technology.

Asked about concerns over data centers and electricity costs, Bezos pointed to Blue Origin’s Project Sunrise. He said the company has an application with the Federal Communications Commission to launch more than 50,000 satellites serving as orbital data centers.

"Yes, we can put data centers in space," he said. "And there’s a good reason to do that."

The conversation also turned to politics, with Baier asking about independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' criticism of billionaires.

Bezos rejected the idea that building a successful business makes someone a villain, pointing to entrepreneurs who expand their companies while creating jobs.

"There’s nothing wrong with making unbelievably good chicken that people love," he said, citing the success of Raising Cane’s. "And it doesn’t make him a bad person."

Asked why socialism is gaining traction in some quarters, Bezos acknowledged real affordability problems, particularly housing costs that leave young people struggling to live near their jobs.

"You can’t pretend that there are no problems," he said.

But he argued that politicians blaming landlords are overlooking the role of supply and demand. Government policies that subsidize demand while restricting construction drive prices higher, Bezos said, pointing to Austin as an example of a city making it easier to build housing.

He urged voters to scrutinize politicians who spend their time assigning blame.

"If there’s a politician who’s picking villains and pointing fingers, that probably means they don’t have a solution," Bezos said.

He added that executives who behaved that way at his own companies would not last.

"Those people wouldn’t be in our company for long."