The company building the technology that may displace millions of workers has published a 13-page document outlining what governments should do about it.
OpenAI released "Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age: Ideas to Keep People First" on Monday, proposing sweeping economic reforms to prepare for what it describes as approaching superintelligence. CEO Sam Altman told Axios in an exclusive interview that the scale of disruption ahead is comparable to the Progressive Era and the New Deal - and that the two most immediate dangers are cyberattacks and biological attacks enabled by advanced AI models.
What the Document Actually Proposes
The proposals are genuinely substantive, not vague platitudes. The most radical is a Public Wealth Fund - a nationally managed investment vehicle, seeded in part by AI companies themselves, that would give every American citizen a direct stake in AI-driven economic growth. The fund would invest in AI companies and the broader economy, with returns distributed to the public. Think Alaska's oil dividend fund, scaled to the entire US economy and tied to AI productivity gains.
On taxation, OpenAI proposes shifting the tax base away from labor income and payroll taxes - which AI could hollow out by displacing workers - toward corporate income and capital gains. It explicitly floats taxes on automated labor, what Axios and others have labeled a robot tax. The concern driving this is concrete: Social Security, Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance are funded by payroll taxes. If AI displaces enough workers, the tax base that funds the safety net collapses at exactly the moment more people need it.
The document also proposes government-backed pilots of a 32-hour, four-day work week with no reduction in pay, arguing that AI productivity gains should translate into shorter hours rather than higher corporate output. It calls for fast-response social safety net programs that automatically trigger when AI disruption metrics hit certain thresholds, accelerated electrical grid expansion, and treating access to AI as a foundational right.
The Tension Worth Naming
Coming from my background in sales and four years advising executives on AI adoption, I understand why this document exists. But Altman was candid with Axios about the dual nature of the exercise. OpenAI is the company racing to build the very technology it is warning about. Positioning itself as the responsible actor proposing solutions is also, plainly, a strategy to shape regulation before regulation shapes it. The document arrives as OpenAI approaches an IPO, has just closed a $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion valuation, and faces scrutiny over its conversion from nonprofit to for-profit.
Critics including Gizmodo noted that many proposals leave significant gaps - particularly for workers whose employer-sponsored benefits disappear alongside their jobs. Whether the altruism is genuine or strategic, Altman told Axios directly: "We do feel a sense of urgency. And we want to see the debate of these issues really start to happen with seriousness."
OpenAI plans to open a policy workshop in Washington in May and is offering fellowships and research grants to build on the proposals. The conversation has started. Whether it leads anywhere useful is the question that follows.
