The first StrictlyVC of 2026 hits San Francisco. Tickets are going fast. Register now.

Save up to $680 on your Disrupt 2026 pass. Ends 11:59 p.m. PT tonight. REGISTER NOW.

OpenAI’s Vision for the AI Economy: Public Wealth Funds, Robot Taxes, and a Four-Day Workweek

As governments grapple with the economic fallout of superintelligent machines, OpenAI has released a set of policy proposals outlining how wealth and work could be reshaped in an "intelligence age." The ideas blend traditionally left-leaning mechanisms like public wealth funds and expanded social safety nets with a fundamentally capitalist, market-driven economic framework.

OpenAI’s proposals serve as a wish list and a public declaration to help elected officials, investors, and the public understand how the $852 billion company envisions the world shifting in an age where artificial intelligence transforms labor and the economy.

The proposals were released amid growing anxiety around AI, marked by concerns over job displacement, wealth concentration, and extensive data center buildouts across the country. This release coincides with the Trump administration's push towards a national AI framework and the upcoming midterm elections, signaling an attempt at bipartisan positioning. This effort runs parallel to a more direct political campaign: OpenAI president Greg Brockman, who has contributed millions to President Donald Trump, along with other tech billionaires, has funneled hundreds of millions into super PACs advocating for lenient AI policies.

OpenAI's proposed framework centers on three main goals: distributing AI-driven prosperity more broadly, building safeguards to reduce systemic risks, and ensuring widespread access to AI capabilities to prevent economic power and opportunity from becoming overly concentrated.

One significant proposal is to shift the tax burden from labor to capital. While OpenAI does not specify a corporate tax rate, it warns that AI-driven growth could erode the tax base that funds essential social programs like Social Security, Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance as corporate profits rise and reliance on labor income decreases. "As AI reshapes work and production, the composition of economic activity may shift — expanding corporate profits and capital gains while potentially reducing reliance on labor income and payroll taxes," OpenAI stated.

Furthermore, the company suggests higher taxes on corporate income, AI-driven returns, or capital gains for the wealthy. This category of policy has already influenced notable figures like Marc Andreessen, who backed Trump after Biden proposed taxing unrealized capital gains in 2024. OpenAI also introduces the idea of a robot tax, reminiscent of a proposal from Microsoft founder Bill Gates in 2017, which would require robots to pay the same taxes as the humans they replace.

Meet Your Next Investor or Portfolio Startup at Disrupt

Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where over 10,000 founders, investors, and tech leaders will gather for three days of over 250 tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation.

The document further includes a proposal for creating a Public Wealth Fund, designed to provide Americans with an automatic public stake in AI companies and infrastructure, regardless of their market investments. Returns from this fund would be distributed directly to citizens, potentially appealing to those who have witnessed AI's ability to inflate the market without sharing in those gains.

Several proposals focus on labor, including subsidizing a four-day workweek with no loss in pay — a suggestion that aligns with the tech industry’s promises that AI will enhance work-life balance. OpenAI also recommends that companies increase retirement contributions, cover a larger share of healthcare costs, and subsidize child or eldercare. However, these are framed as corporate responsibilities, omitting the impact on individuals most likely to be displaced by AI. The proposal for portable benefit accounts that follow workers across jobs still depends on employer contributions and falls short of government-backed universal coverage.

OpenAI recognizes that AI presents risks beyond job loss, such as misuse by governments or malicious entities and the potential for systems to operate beyond human control. To mitigate these threats, it suggests containment plans for dangerous AI, the establishment of new oversight bodies, and targeted safeguards against severe risks like cyberattacks and biological threats.

Alongside these safety nets, OpenAI proposes growth initiatives including expanding electricity infrastructure to accommodate AI's power demands and accelerating AI infrastructure development through subsidies, tax credits, or equity stakes. They advocate for treating AI as a utility, suggesting collaboration between industry and government to keep AI affordable and widely available, rather than dominated by a select few firms.

OpenAI’s framework emerges six months after rival Anthropic released its policy blueprint addressing responses to AI-driven disruption. "We are entering a new phase of economic and social organization that will fundamentally reshape work, knowledge, and production," OpenAI asserts, emphasizing the need for a "new industrial policy agenda that ensures superintelligence benefits everyone."

Originally founded as a nonprofit committed to ensuring AI benefits all of humanity, OpenAI transitioned to a for-profit entity last year, a shift that has led to skepticism regarding the compatibility of its mission with the obligation to grow and serve shareholders. The company references past economic upheavals, such as the Industrial Age, noting that movements like the New Deal ensured that growth translated into broader opportunity and security through the establishment of new public institutions, protections, and expectations for a fair economy.

According to OpenAI, the transition to superintelligence will necessitate an even more ambitious form of industrial policy, reflecting the collective action capabilities of democratic societies to shape their economic futures in a way that benefits everyone.

Source: TechCrunch News