In a new post on his personal blog, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned that AI could lead to plenty of economic inequality while allowing authoritarian governments to "control their population through mass surveillance and loss of autonomy."OpenAI has made it its goal to realize "artificial general intelligence" the still-entirely-hypothetical point at which an AI can achieve and surpass the intellectual capabilities of a human that "benefits all of humanity."If anyone does manage to build AGI, ensuring that the "socioeconomic value" benefits all equally may prove far more difficult, especially after AI causes countless people to lose their jobs."In particular, it does seem like the balance of power between capital and labor could easily get messed up, and this may require early intervention," Altman argued.In response, Altman proposes looking into "strange-sounding ideas like giving some 'compute budget' to enable everyone on Earth to use a lot of AI." Alternatively, the CEO suggests "just relentlessly driving the cost of intelligence as low as possible," which would also allegedly allow everybody to benefit equally from AI.Altman argued that "metrics we care about" including "health outcomes, economic prosperity" simply "get better on average and over the long-term." Yet "increasing equality does not seem technologically determined, and getting this right may require new ideas.""Anyone in 2035 should be able to marshall the intellectual capacity equivalent to everyone in 2025," he concluded. "Everyone should have access to unlimited genius to direct however they can imagine."But should we really take any of the billionaire's arguments at face value? For one, the basic concept of AGI remains a distant pipe dream. Researchers have yet to iron out some persistent issues with the tech, from rampant hallucinations to astronomical and environmentally damaging power requirements, DeepSeek's recent breakthrough notwithstanding.And at its core Altman's role as the head of the ChatGPT maker often makes it sound like he's selling dreams a bit more than a concrete reality."The economic growth in front of us looks astonishing, and we can now imagine a world where we cure all diseases, have much more time to enjoy with our families, and can fully realize our creative potential," he wrote.But even Altman, who heads a company that's trying to raise yet another $40 billion, realizes this may not actually "benefit all," without at least some degree of intervention.Whether vague ideas like handing out a "compute budget" to everyone on the planet will prove helpful remains to be seen. We still don't even know if we'll ever reach the point of realizing an AGI that can turn society on its head.Is Altman putting the cart before the horse or is he sending a warning, predicting a chaotic breakdown in the "balance of power between capital and labor?"Considering the government he's currently backing has no interest in ensuring an even playing field, let alone supporting freedom of expression, perhaps the CEO got a glimpse of the near future and is trying to get ahead of it.More on OpenAI: Researchers Replicate OpenAI's Hot New AI Tool in 24 HoursShare This Article