# OpenAI prepares for AI’s economic shock > Source: > Published: 2026-05-27 19:48:10+00:00 s concerns continue to mount about the impacts that AI could have on the economy, OpenAI's philanthropy arm wants to front-run the crisis. On Wednesday, the [OpenAI Foundation announced a $250 million commitment](https://openaifoundation.org/news/economic-futures-in-the-age-of-ai) to creating grants and forging partnerships aimed at helping prepare the economy for AI disruption. The goal, the foundation said in its announcement, is “building secure and abundant economic futures.” The initial investment will support external organizations through grants, open calls, and institutional partnerships. The foundation will also build an internal team to advance this work directly, and expects the first initiatives to be announced later this year. “AI is going to lead to huge economic changes as it makes previously scarce capabilities far more widely available, and there is deep uncertainty about how far and how fast they will go,” OpenAI said in its release. “We don’t need to know exactly how the future will unfold to prepare for it.” The program, which aims to create “institutional options” for AI preparedness, will work across three main areas: **Understanding the shift:** Here, the foundation will invest in independent measurement and forecasting to develop a clear understanding of how this tech will impact the economy. This involves measuring how people leverage AI and what it enables them to access, rather than just the earnings AI can generate.**Supporting the transition:** This involves offering resources to workers as they navigate near-term disruption. Along with support and retraining, OpenAI notes that this includes researching approaches that give workers “agency over AI deployment,” and investing in broadening the capacity of governments and public institutions to deliver.**Building for long-term economic security:** This part involves developing approaches to organizing “post-AI political economies” and determining how to equitably share global economic gains. This includes researching proposals to shift taxes and dividends in response to “observable indicators,” and figuring out ways to give people “durable claims” on broad economic growth. In other words, it's talking about how to share the wealth of AI. See[similar proposals made in OpenAI's 'AI New Deal' document](https://www.thedeepview.com/articles/exclusive-inside-openai-s-case-for-an-ai-new-deal). With studies and forecasts regularly published about the tech’s ability to upend the job market, the growing fear of AI’s looming impacts on the economy is breeding [distaste and resentment towards the technology](https://www.thedeepview.com/articles/anti-ai-extremism-is-taking-a-darker-turn). The foundation’s end goal is to strengthen the global economy and the workforce’s ability to handle change by understanding which approaches work before damage is done and a crisis is precipitated. ## Our Deeper *View* The OpenAI Foundation is trying to get ahead of problems that tech from OpenAI and other frontier labs could accelerate in the years ahead, if the current trajectory plays out. And, for multiple reasons, it’s in OpenAI’s best interest to untangle these issues. For one, with anxiety and animosity towards AI worsening, a move like this is good PR, seeking to ease those fears by positioning OpenAI on the side of the people. Additionally, what goes around comes around: a weakening economy is bad for everyone and would hinder OpenAI’s ability to sell its services. And broadly, while OpenAI doesn't have the same reputation for responsibility as rival Anthropic, its stated mission has always been to create AGI that benefits all of humanity. Given the forecasts that this tech could widen economic disparity, getting in front of that will be vital to delivering on that mission.