Ex-OpenAI Advisor Proposes $10K AI-Powered UBI

An ex-OpenAI advisor suggests AI-enabled growth could soon fund a $10,000 monthly universal basic income. This bold vision aims to remove the obligation to work, fundamentally reshaping human life and purpose.

The accelerating march of artificial intelligence has long been framed as both a harbinger of unprecedented productivity and a looming threat to traditional employment.

Yet, seldom has the conversation ventured into the realm of truly radical economic shifts quite like the one recently proposed by Miles Brundage, a former senior policy advisor and head of the AGI readiness team at OpenAI.

Brundage posits a future where the relentless expansion of AI makes universal basic income (UBI) not just feasible, but potentially staggeringly generous: a monthly payment of $10,000.

This isn’t a mere academic musing; it’s a vision cast from the very heart of the AI revolution.

Brundage, who departed OpenAI in 2024, views the economic impact of AI as so profound that it could fundamentally alter our relationship with work and wealth.

His suggestion far outstrips the modest sums typically seen in current UBI trials, which range from $500 to $1,500 per month.

Those figures, Brundage notes, reflect what is “feasible policy-wise today.”

His $10,000 figure, however, is tethered to “what will be feasible policy-wise in a few years with AI-enabled growth.”

It’s a statement that demands attention, forcing us to confront the sheer scale of the disruption – and potential bounty – that AI could unleash.

The timing of Brundage’s remarks is no coincidence.

Reports and anecdotal evidence increasingly highlight AI’s capacity to automate tasks, particularly those found in entry-level positions.

This isn’t just about factory floors anymore; it’s about administrative roles, customer service, content creation, and even some aspects of coding.

The fear of widespread job displacement is palpable, creating a fertile ground for discussions around social safety nets.

UBI, in this context, is not merely a philanthropic gesture but a potential economic necessity, a mechanism to ensure societal stability amidst unprecedented technological upheaval.

Indeed, the idea of a basic income has found surprising allies among the tech elite.

Visionaries like Elon Musk have openly supported the concept, recognizing the transformative power of AI and its potential to render vast swathes of human labor obsolete.

OpenAI’s own CEO, Sam Altman, has put his money where his mouth is, playing a significant role in funding one of the largest basic income studies to date, providing participants with $1,000 monthly over three years.

These aren’t fringe ideologues; these are individuals intimately involved in shaping the very technologies that are driving this conversation.

Brundage’s commentary, however, delves deeper than mere economic pragmatism.

He articulates a profound tension inherent in our current trajectory.

“In the near-term, I worry a lot about AI disrupting opportunities for people who desperately want work,” he wrote on X.

Yet, simultaneously, he offers a powerful counterpoint, a long-term aspiration: “I think it’s simultaneously true that humanity should eventually remove the obligation to work for a living and that doing so is one of the strongest arguments for building AI and AGI in the first place.”

This is where the conversation transcends mere policy and touches upon the very essence of human purpose.

For generations, work has been synonymous with identity, status, and survival.

What happens when that fundamental equation is broken?

If AI can generate immense wealth and perform tasks far more efficiently than humans, freeing us from the daily grind, what then?

Brundage’s vision suggests a re-evaluation of what it means to be human, to contribute, to find meaning outside the traditional capitalist framework of labor for wages.

It hints at a future where creativity, learning, community building, and personal development could become the primary pursuits, unburdened by economic necessity.

Of course, the path to $10,000 monthly UBI is fraught with monumental challenges.

The question of funding such a colossal undertaking immediately leaps to mind.

How would this AI-enabled growth translate into distributable wealth?

Would it be through new forms of taxation on AI-driven corporations, or perhaps through a re-imagining of public ownership of AI infrastructure?

The political will required to implement such a radical policy would be immense, navigating entrenched economic interests and deeply held societal beliefs about work and reward.

Furthermore, the inflationary pressures of injecting such vast sums into an economy, and the potential for shifts in consumer behavior and market dynamics, would need careful consideration.

Yet, to dismiss Brundage’s idea as mere fantasy would be to ignore the very pace of technological advancement.

The history of innovation is replete with predictions that seemed outlandish at the time, only to become commonplace.

As AI continues its relentless evolution, policymakers are faced with an urgent mandate: to move beyond incremental adjustments and begin envisioning truly forward-thinking approaches to our economic and social structures.

Brundage’s audacious proposal serves as a powerful catalyst, forcing a critical examination of not just how we will adapt to AI, but how we might harness its power to forge a more equitable, and perhaps, more human future.

The debate is no longer about if AI will change everything, but how we choose to navigate that change.