OpenAI Calls for Global Shift in Taxation, Labor Policy as AI Takes Over

In brief

• OpenAI released a policy paper arguing that governments must prepare for economic disruption from advanced AI.
• The document proposes ideas such as broader AI access, tax changes tied to automation, and stronger safety oversight.
• The release comes as The New Yorker reported separate allegations involving CEO Sam Altman, questioning his motivations and leadership.

ChatGPT developer OpenAI is calling for world leaders to plan now for a world dominated by advanced artificial intelligence.

In the paper “Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age: Ideas to Keep People First,” released on Monday, OpenAI argues that rapid advances in AI could reshape economies and may require new approaches to taxation, labor policy, and social protections as society prepares for the possibility of superintelligence.

“No one knows exactly how this transition will unfold,” the company wrote. “At OpenAI, we believe we should navigate it through a democratic process that gives people real power to shape the AI future they want, and prepare for a range of possible outcomes while building the capacity to adapt.”

While OpenAI claims AI could significantly increase productivity and accelerate scientific discovery, it also warns that the technology could disrupt labor markets and concentrate wealth if policies do not adapt. The paper says governments should begin preparing now for possible changes in work, income, and economic growth.

The document outlines several policy ideas, including treating access to AI as a foundational economic resource for “participation in the modern economy, similar to mass efforts to increase global literacy,” modernizing tax systems to account for automation, and creating mechanisms that allow citizens to share in the economic gains produced by AI-driven industries.

“The promise of advanced AI is not just technological progress, but a higher quality of life for all. Everyone should have the opportunity to participate in the new opportunities AI creates,” OpenAI wrote. “Living standards should rise, and people should see material improvements through lower costs, better health and education, and more security and opportunity.”

It also proposes strengthening worker protections and expanding social support if technological change leads to sudden job losses, while calling for oversight tools, including auditing for frontier models, incident reporting systems, and “model-containment playbooks” for scenarios in which dangerous AI systems cannot easily be recalled once deployed.

“If AI winds up controlled by, and benefiting only a few, while most people lack agency and access to AI-driven opportunity, we will have failed to deliver on its promise,” the company wrote.

This policy push comes at a difficult time for OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is facing fresh scrutiny following an extensive investigation by The New Yorker. The report reveals that in 2023, OpenAI’s co-founder and then-chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, wrote internal memos accusing Altman of being deceptive about the company’s safety protocols and other key operations.

According to the magazine, these trust issues led the OpenAI board to fire Altman, concluding that he hadn't been "consistently candid" with them. The firing set off a firestorm in the company, with employees threatening to leave the company in protest, while powerful investors like Josh Kushner threatened to withhold funding unless Altman was reinstated.

The report underscored the deep internal divisions over governance and safety, with some former insiders—including Sutskever and Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei—arguing that Altman prioritized growth and product expansion over the company’s original safety-focused mission.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Decrypt.