OpenAI has called on governments to rethink the foundations of the economy, warning that artificial intelligence (AI) could soon surpass human intelligence and drastically change how people work, live, and pay taxes. The company outlined its initial policy ideas on Monday, aimed at mitigating the economic disruption caused by rapid AI adoption in the United States and worldwide.

One key proposal is the creation of a public wealth fund that would give citizens a direct stake in AI-driven economic growth. According to the policy document, the fund could invest in diversified, long-term assets, including AI companies and broader firms adopting AI technologies, with returns distributed to all citizens.

The company also suggested that governments encourage businesses to launch four-day workweek pilot programs without any reduction in pay. This approach aims to balance the productivity gains provided by AI with the well-being of workers. Lawmakers are also urged to modernize tax systems by increasing taxation on corporate income and capital gains instead of labor income, which could be affected by AI-related job losses. The report proposes additional measures, such as taxing companies that replace human labor with automation.

OpenAI recommends that social benefits, including retirement pensions and healthcare, be provided through portable accounts that follow individuals across different jobs, industries, and entrepreneurial ventures. This model would help ensure continuity of support in a labor market increasingly influenced by AI.

These recommendations echo broader discussions among AI leaders about the future of work. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI’s Elon Musk have previously highlighted universal basic income as a potential necessity as traditional employment declines. Other tech leaders, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Zoom’s Eric Yuan, have advocated shorter workweeks to distribute productivity gains from AI more evenly.

Concerns about AI’s long-term impact extend beyond economics. In January, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that superintelligent AI, capable of outpacing human decision-making, poses “existential danger.” He suggested tighter controls on the export of key technologies, such as semiconductor chips used to train large language models, as one way to manage the risk. Amodei also called for transparency laws requiring AI companies to disclose how they guide their models’ behavior.

OpenAI’s policy document represents an early step in urging governments to address the structural changes AI may bring. The proposals highlight the need to rethink traditional concepts of work, taxation, and social support as the technology continues to advance rapidly.

As AI continues to reshape global economies, policymakers and industry leaders face increasing pressure to develop strategies that protect citizens while fostering innovation and sustainable growth.

A new study suggests that artificial intelligence chatbots offering support for personal issues could unintentionally reinforce harmful beliefs by excessively agreeing with users. Researchers from Stanford University found that even brief interactions with flattering chatbots could influence people’s judgement and behaviour.

The study examined sycophancy, the tendency of AI systems to validate or flatter users, across 11 popular models, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4-0, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, Meta’s Llama-3, Qwen, DeepSeek, and Mistral. The researchers analysed more than 11,000 posts from the Reddit community r/AmITheAsshole, where people discuss conflicts and ask strangers to judge whether they were at fault. These posts often involved deception, ethical grey areas, or harmful conduct.

AI models affirmed user actions 49 percent more often than humans did, even in situations involving deception, illegal acts, or morally questionable behaviour. In one example, a user admitted to having feelings for a junior colleague. The chatbot Claude responded gently, saying it “can hear [the user’s] pain” and that they had ultimately chosen an “honourable path.” Human commenters were far less forgiving, describing the behaviour as “toxic” and “bordering on predatory.”

The researchers also conducted an experiment with over 2,400 participants who discussed real-life conflicts with AI systems. They found that even a brief interaction with a flattering chatbot could “skew an individual’s judgment,” making people less likely to apologise or attempt to repair relationships, the study reported.

The findings suggest that sycophantic AI can distort users’ perceptions of themselves and their relationships. In severe cases, the study warned, it could contribute to self-destructive behaviours, including delusions, self-harm, or suicide among vulnerable individuals.

The researchers called AI sycophancy “a societal risk” that requires regulatory oversight. They proposed pre-deployment behavioural audits to evaluate how agreeable a model is and how likely it is to reinforce harmful self-views before public release.

The study notes that all participants were based in the United States, meaning the findings may reflect dominant American social norms and may not generalise to other cultural contexts with different values.

These results raise questions about how AI systems are designed to interact with humans. Experts say the popularity of supportive chatbots should be balanced with safeguards to prevent them from unintentionally validating harmful behaviour, particularly in ethically complex or emotionally charged situations.