OpenAI Calls for Robot Taxes, a Public Wealth Fund, and a Four-Day Week
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OpenAI has released a 13-page policy document titled Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age, which proposes several radical reforms to prepare for the advent of superintelligence. The proposals include:
- Robot Taxes: A tax on automated labor.
- Public Wealth Fund: Seeded partly by AI companies, this fund would invest in AI businesses and distribute returns directly to citizens. Inspired by Alaska's Permanent Fund.
- Four-Day Workweek: Positioned as an 'efficiency dividend' from AI-driven productivity gains.
The document also discusses:
- Safety Nets: Automatic triggers for benefits when AI displacement metrics reach certain thresholds, phasing out once conditions stabilize.
- Containment Playbooks: Strategies for managing autonomous and self-replicating dangerous AI systems, acknowledging the potential unavailability of deactivation mechanisms.
CEO Sam Altman emphasizes the urgency of these proposals, citing the potential for major cyberattacks enabled by near-future AI models within the next year and the reality of AI models being used to create novel pathogens.
Altman acknowledges that OpenAI is at the forefront of developing this technology but positions itself as a responsible actor offering solutions before regulation dictates them. This aligns with Anthropic's similar approach.
The policy paper comes at a critical time, as Congress prepares to debate AI legislation in the face of rapid technological advancements.