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Sam Altman Gave People Free Money. Here's What Happened

The landmark study provides more data on the benefits of universal basic income, the OpenAI founder’s favored solution for a future in which AI takes everyone's jobs.

“Universal basic income” was one of the first concepts probed by OpenResearch, a moonshots lab linked to OpenAI that Altman has personally contributed tens of millions of dollars to in a crusade to shape a future he sees as inevitably disrupted by artificial intelligence. In 2019, he founded Worldcoin, the iris-scanning cryptocurrency company he claimed would create a “collectively owned global currency that will be distributed fairly to as many people as possible.” The project has fallen far short of its goal to onboard 1 billion users by 2023, and has been mired by a parade of controversies. Karina Dotson, research and insights manager at OpenResearch The study’s broadest finding was that cash creates flexibility — to be more selective in job searches, to obtain medical care or to assist a family member with their own bills.

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