Downward angle icon Downward angle icon. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Justin Sullivan via Getty Images In an OpenResearch study, 3,000 low-income Americans were given a monthly stipend. The study, funded in part by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, explored the impact of providing a basic income. Participants used the money to purchase necessities and explore starting a business.
What happens when you give people $1,000 a month? They start thinking about starting a business.
Earlier this month, the nonprofit Open Research released the results of a study that gave $1,000 per month in cash payments to low-income residents in urban, suburban and rural areas of the United States.
The research was funded in part by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who believes that a periodic basic income may be necessary in an era when AI will make many jobs unnecessary.
Many in the AI industry support so-called universal basic income, which would provide a regular stipend to everyone regardless of their economic situation. Given the political hurdles such a program would face, many cities are instead experimenting with smaller basic guaranteed incomes. Altman’s study tested this version of a basic income.
“Technically, this is not a UBI. If it were a UBI, there would be no income requirements, there would be no age requirements. Everyone in the community would receive it. And, obviously, that’s very hard to test,” Elizabeth Rose, director of Open Research, told The New York Times podcast “Hard Fork.” “We’re testing more unconditional cash.”
Most of the participants used their monthly stipend to cover rent, transportation and food costs. But over time, the money also helped them change their mindset.
“One of the things I’ve found interesting is the increased interest in entrepreneurship and business ideas,” Rose said, “and in a lot of ways I feel like it’s given people the space to really think about what they would do if they had more opportunities.”
The reality is that many low-income Americans are scraping by before payday or working odd jobs or night shifts. “I think there’s a lot of people out there who are just surviving right now, and maybe their jobs don’t give them a sense of purpose and they don’t have a choice,” Rose said.
