OpenAI has warned investors that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) could disrupt economic systems so deeply that money itself may lose relevance. According to leaked investor materials, “it may be difficult to know what role money will play in a post-AGI world.” Yet, at the same time, the company is securing billions in funding—SoftBank valuing it at $300 billion, employees selling $6 billion in stock at a $500 billion valuation. This paradox highlights a core tension: bold visions of a post-scarcity future, pursued within the capitalist frameworks that fuel innovation today.
Business Insider underscored this irony, noting Sam Altman’s admission that investors may be “overexcited about AI,” especially after GPT-5 consumed billions but delivered only incremental gains. Meanwhile, giants like Microsoft and Amazon push mandatory AI adoption, betting on returns that remain uncertain. This essay explores two domains where AGI could upend the status quo: global finance and ethics.
AGI and Global Finance: Abundance and Instability
AGI promises radical productivity gains. In finance, it could forecast markets, detect fraud, or optimize portfolios at near-zero cognitive cost. Economists suggest trillions could be added to GDP. Scarcity may shift from human labor to compute power, energy, and infrastructure.
But abundance comes with destabilization risks:
- Job displacement: The IMF estimates nearly 40% of jobs may be disrupted worldwide. Finance could see trading floors dominated by algorithms, with wealth concentrated among AGI owners.
- Valuation bubbles: Despite weak ROI—UBS reports 95% of firms see none—investors pour billions into AI. The frenzy recalls past bubbles like Enron or SPACs.
- Tokenized economies: Blockchain-linked AI agents may build autonomous markets, enabling new forms of inclusion in emerging economies but also potential exploitation.
If intelligence becomes commoditized, wages may collapse. Calls for Universal Basic Income (UBI) will intensify. Central banks may struggle to adapt monetary policy to a machine-driven economy. As critics on X point out, even in a world of abundant cognition, physical limits persist: “What will you build data centers with? What will you buy GPUs with?”
Ethics in the Machine Age
The economic questions cannot be separated from moral ones. As AGI approaches human-level ability, alignment with human values becomes critical.
Key dilemmas:
- Bias and fairness: AGI trained on flawed data could entrench inequalities in credit, lending, or hiring.
- Transparency: Opaque models erode accountability, particularly in surveillance or defense applications.
- Privacy: Projects like Worldcoin raise concerns over consent and biometric data security.
- Rights for AGI: If consciousness emerges—even as speculation—denying autonomy could repeat past injustices.
The societal stakes are profound. Mass unemployment could erode dignity. Concentrated control of AGI among elites risks narrowing cultural values into a global monoculture. Cybersecurity becomes more precarious as AGI both enables and defends against sophisticated attacks.
Proposals to mitigate risk include:
- International agreements to set ethical standards.
- Governance models balancing innovation with oversight.
- Equitable access to AGI benefits to avoid deepening divides.
Intersections: Finance and Ethics
Finance and ethics are deeply intertwined. Without ethical safeguards, financial disruption could widen inequality, producing instability instead of abundance. Lifesaving medical breakthroughs powered by AGI could extend lives, but if access is restricted, justice issues arise. Blockchain-enabled agent economies could democratize finance, but unchecked, they might foster exploitation.
Hybrid human-AGI systems may soften these risks, ensuring that machines amplify human capacity rather than replace it outright. Global coordination, transparency, and equitable design are prerequisites for inclusive outcomes.
Conclusion
OpenAI’s paradox encapsulates the dual edge of AGI: it could render money obsolete, yet is pursued through record-breaking valuations. The future hinges not only on AGI’s algorithms but also on the governance choices of today. With ethical safeguards and adaptive policies such as UBI, AGI can drive prosperity without deepening division. Without them, the risk is chaos masked as progress.
The challenge is clear: will AGI mark the dawn of abundance—or the start of instability?