OpenAI Launches $250 Million Economic Futures Program for the AI Era

Generative AI is rapidly reshaping employment, wages and the distribution of corporate profits, but existing measures of GDP, income and labor markets may not fully capture the value created by digital services. The OpenAI Foundation is therefore launching its Economic Futures program to develop policy options that support worker transitions and broadly share the gains from growth before AI's impact expands further.

The OpenAI Foundation announced on May 27, 2026, that it would commit an initial $250 million through grants, open calls for proposals and institutional partnerships. The program will study AI's economic impact, support workers and communities through the transition, and test approaches including taxes on capital, mechanisms for excess returns, and public or sovereign wealth funds. The first projects are expected to be announced in 2026.