The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

Snapshot · The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

OpenAI Whistleblower FINALLY Speaks: “AI Has A 70% Chance Of Going Horribly Wrong!“

Explore episode Jul 13, 2026

Where this was said

Should Everyone Receive AI Dividends?

At 1:25:00 · chapter starts 1:24:55

Steven Bartlett walks through the Plan A timeline, stopping on 2033 — the point in the scenario when citizens begin receiving dividend payments. Kokotajlo explains the logic: if AIs and robots are doing the productive work, the economic surplus needs to be distributed to the people who would otherwise have been doing that work. His proposed mechanism is a citizens' agency that sells permits to AI and robot companies and distributes the proceeds as shares to every citizen. Starting around $25,000 per person per year, the dividend grows dramatically as the AI economy expands — reaching approximately $10 million per person per year at its projected peak. The key timing principle: the dividend must be implemented before the jobs are gone, not after. Waiting until 2037 would mean everyone has already lost their job by the time the cheques arrive. He also stresses that job loss is not purely an income problem — it's also a political power problem, as citizens' economic leverage over governments disappears alongside their employment.

Business
The Citizens Dividend: What Happens When AI Takes All the Jobs

OpenAI Whistleblower FINALLY Speaks: “AI Has A 70% Chance O… · Jul 13, 2026 Business

If AI takes the jobs, people need a new source of income and political power. Kokotajlo proposes a citizens' dividend funded by permits sold to AI and robot companies — starting at $25,000 per person per year and growing to $10 million per person per year as the economy expands. The key is implementing it before the jobs are gone, not after.

Similar snapshots