OpenAI calls for 4-day workweek, capital taxes as AI reshapes jobs and wealth

OpenAI has proposed a sweeping rethink of how economies distribute wealth and work in the age of artificial intelligence, including a four-day workweek and a public wealth fund to ensure citizens share in AI-driven gains.

In its policy document, titled 'Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age: Idea to Keep People First,' the company warns that AI could sharply reshape labour markets and concentrate wealth unless governments intervene early with new economic frameworks.

The proposals come as AI systems rapidly evolve from assisting tasks that take minutes to handling work that previously took months, changing how organisations operate and how people earn a living. 

Push for a 4-day workweek

One of the most striking ideas in the document is a shift toward shorter workweeks, driven by productivity gains from AI.

OpenAI suggests policymakers and companies should “run time-bound 32-hour/four-day workweek pilots with no loss in pay that hold output and service levels constant”, adding that these gains could be converted into permanent reductions in working hours. 

The company frames this as part of a broader “efficiency dividend,” where the benefits of automation are returned to workers not just through wages, but also through time.

Taxing automated labour 

Alongside labour reform, OpenAI argues that governments must rethink taxation as AI shifts economic value away from workers and toward capital.

“As AI reshapes work and production, the composition of economic activity may shift—expanding corporate profits and capital gains while potentially reducing reliance on labour income,” the document notes. 

To address this, it proposes new tax mechanisms linked to automated labour and AI-driven returns, alongside higher reliance on capital-based taxes such as corporate income and capital gains.

This marks a clear endorsement of what is often described as a “robot tax,” a controversial idea that has gained traction as automation accelerates.

Public wealth fund for AI era

The most structural proposal is the creation of a Public Wealth Fund, designed to give every citizen a direct stake in AI-led economic growth.

OpenAI recommends building a fund that invests in AI companies and the broader ecosystem, with returns distributed to citizens.

The goal, it says, is to ensure that “people directly share in the upside of that growth, regardless of their starting wealth or access to capital.” 

Such a model mirrors sovereign wealth funds but extends the concept to AI-generated prosperity—effectively turning citizens into stakeholders in the automation economy.

A warning on inequality

Underlying these proposals is a clear warning: without intervention, AI could deepen economic inequality.

The document cautions that “AI could widen inequality by compounding advantages for those already positioned to capture the upside”, while others risk being excluded from new opportunities. 

It also flags the possibility that gains may concentrate among a handful of companies, even as AI becomes widely adopted.

Bigger reset underway

OpenAI frames these ideas as part of a broader industrial policy reset for what it calls the “intelligence age,” arguing that existing institutions may not be equipped to handle the scale of disruption ahead.

“We are entering a new phase of economic and social organization that will fundamentally reshape work, knowledge, and production,” the company said.