OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is pushing for a fundamental shift in economic policy to address the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. In documents cited by Axios, the company argues that AI will trigger significant disruptions in employment and cybersecurity within the next year.
To counter these shifts, Altman proposes the creation of a public wealth fund. This mechanism would allow citizens to capture a share of the economic growth generated by advanced AI systems.
A new economic framework for automation
The proposal includes shifting the tax burden toward automated labor. As traditional income taxes tied to human employment shrink, Altman suggests that governments must rethink how they generate revenue to fund essential services.
OpenAI’s framework also advocates for guaranteed public access to AI as a utility. This would ensure that workers, schools, and underserved sectors remain competitive as automation becomes widespread.
Altman’s plan calls for radical changes to the labor market, including the adoption of 32-hour work weeks at full pay. He also proposes automated support systems that would trigger immediately when workers are displaced by new technology.
While Altman admits that the development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) might have been better suited as a government project, he now argues for a hybrid model. He calls for deep collaboration between the public and private sectors, including mandatory audits for the most advanced systems.
Axios reports that the rapid pace of AI development creates a high risk of social instability, mass unemployment, and sophisticated cyberattacks if policymakers fail to act quickly. Altman insists that these decisions cannot be left to a small group of tech executives.
He argues that the distribution of wealth and the regulation of technology must be subject to a broad, public debate. The goal, according to his framework, is to ensure the benefits of AI are shared rather than concentrated in the hands of a few firms.
