At the BlackRock Infrastructure Summit, Sam Altman spoke about the increasing worries about artificial intelligence and its effects on society. He talked about the increasing doubts about AI, the changing dynamic between labor and capital, and the huge infrastructure required to support the technology.
His statements also reflected the concerns expressed by Donald Trump about AI currently facing a serious public relations crisis.
Altman stated that artificial intelligence has become a convenient scapegoat for public anger. Many companies are pointing to AI as the reason for layoffs.
According to Altman, this does not always reflect reality. Some firms use the term to justify layoffs even when AI played little role. He called this trend “AI washing,” where businesses attach the label of automation to decisions driven by other financial pressures.
He also pointed to another issue: data centers often receive blame for rising electricity costs. As the AI industry expands, it needs huge amounts of computing power, which increases energy demand.
But Altman said these problems often get simplified in public debates. While AI may not cause every layoff or utility price increase, he admitted that deeper fears about automation replacing workers are not entirely misplaced.
From Scarcity to Abundance, AI and the Great Economic Inversion
For centuries, societies built economic systems around scarcity. People competed for limited resources, jobs, and productivity. Altman argued that AI could reverse this model. Instead of managing scarcity, societies may soon need to manage abundance.
If artificial intelligence can generate knowledge, services, and creative output at massive scale, the traditional structure of capitalism may face pressure.
This shift could also change the balance between labor and capital. Historically, workers created value through their time and skills. But powerful AI systems can now perform many knowledge tasks faster than humans.
Altman noted that if workers struggle to “outwork a GPU,” the long-standing balance between human labor and computing power begins to break down. Even economists and technology leaders do not yet agree on how society should respond.
Altman believes the technology has already crossed a major threshold. AI systems now operate as serious economic tools rather than experimental software. What began as tools for coding help or text generation now perform complex tasks across research, finance, and business operations. Soon, AI agents may handle projects that last several days or even weeks, acting with initiative similar to experienced employees.
This shift has begun to influence how companies operate. Some startups now avoid hiring large teams. Instead, they invest heavily in computing infrastructure.
Altman pointed to examples in India where founders attempt to build “zero-person” companies. In these cases, AI writes code, prepares legal documents, answers customer questions, and manages operations with little human involvement.
Sam Altman Visions for “Too Cheap to Meter” Intelligence
Altman warned that the impact will not stop at entry-level jobs. Executives and leaders may also rely heavily on AI systems. He forecasted that by the late 2020s, the sum of cognitive power within massive data centers could surpass the collective intelligence of humans working outside these facilities. In this scenario, business executives, researchers, and politicians might rely on AI support in decision-making.
OpenAI is investing heavily in infrastructure to enable this shift. According to Sam Altman, the company is constructing massive data center campuses that have the potential to generate gigawatts of computing power.
The goal is to drive the cost of intelligence down to almost zero. In his words, OpenAI wants to make AI “too cheap to meter,” turning it into a basic utility that people use as easily as electricity or water.
However, the development of such infrastructure requires not only technology but also manual labor. OpenAI has teamed up with trade unions in the construction industry in North America to increase the number of trained professionals.
Prices may plummet in most sectors in a world where technological advancement is always abundant. Such deflation may puzzle economists, and governments may be forced to rethink their approach to measuring the economy and the quality of life.
Altman is still hopeful that new jobs will emerge in the future. Humans have always adjusted to technological revolutions, and he expects this trend to continue. However, he also warned that this transition will not be a smooth process. The next few years may be filled with tough discussions about work, compensation, and the future of the global economy.
