OpenAI has some big ideas about how to deal with AI disruption.
In a series of policy recommendations released on Monday, OpenAI said the rapid advance of AI would require far-reaching economic and political reforms, including a public wealth fund, taxes on automated labor, and a potential four-day workweek.
“We’re beginning a transition toward superintelligence: AI systems capable of outperforming the smartest humans even when they are assisted by AI. No one knows exactly how this transition will unfold. At OpenAI, we believe we should navigate it through a democratic process that gives people real power to shape the AI future they want,” the company wrote on Monday.
The company said the policy document offered a series of “initial ideas” to address the risk of “jobs and entire industries being disrupted” by the adoption of AI tools.
Among the core policy suggestions is a public wealth fund, which would see lawmakers and AI companies work together to invest in long-term assets linked to the AI boom, with returns distributed directly to citizens.
Another is that the government should encourage and incentivize employers to experiment with four-day workweeks with no loss in pay and offer “benefits bonuses” tied to productivity gains from new AI tools.
The policy document also suggests lawmakers modernize the tax system and shift the tax base to corporate income and capital gains, rather than relying on labor income and payroll taxes that could be hit by a wave of AI-powered job losses. It also recommends taxes related to automated labor.
OpenAI also called for the accelerated expansion of the US’s electricity grid, which is already feeling the strain from a wave of data center construction and energy demand for training ever more powerful AI models.
A blueprint for an uncertain future
OpenAI’s proposals come as fears grow over a potential wave of AI-driven job losses and economic disruption.
In February, a report detailing a hypothetical scenario in which AI advances might lead to a market crash and a consumer-led recession sparked a major stock market selloff.
The growing popularity of new enterprise and coding tools from Anthropic and OpenAI has also hit the share price of major software companies in a so-called “SaaSpolcalypse,” and AI has already been cited as part of the calculation behind major layoffs at Block and Atlassian.
It’s not the first time one of the companies riding the AI boom has called for a New Deal-like overhaul of the social contract in response to the technology they are racing to develop.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote in 2024 that the advent of AI superintelligence would mean that the way the global economy is organized “will no longer make sense,” and speculated that measures beyond a “large Universal Basic Income” program could be required.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also expressed support for Universal Basic Income, a proposal for recurring cash payments to all adults regardless of wealth or employment.
In May 2024, Altman suggested a new version he dubbed Universal Basic Compute, where people receive a share of AI computing power rather than cash, which they could use, sell, or donate.
OpenAI’s policy document also advocates for a robust Social Security and Medicaid safety net and suggests a range of additional temporary measures, including expanded unemployment benefits, that could automatically kick in when metrics tied to AI disruption reach a certain level.
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