Hundreds of economists say in an open letter that institutions “must act now” to address how artificial intelligence could transform the economy and could put many people out of work.
The statement released Monday was signed by top economists, along with computer scientists and some executives at tech companies including Anthropic, Google and OpenAI.
“AI may become radically more powerful over the next 10 years,” says the letter organized by Stanford University’s digital economy lab. “This could drive an unprecedented transformation of our economy, larger than the Industrial Revolution, but unfolding over a vastly shorter time frame. It could bring risks, including large-scale job displacement, as well as opportunities such as major gains in living standards.”
<img src="https://absafricatv.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/260709-HEATHER.jpg" alt="Click to play video: 'Why there’s growing pushback against AI data centres‘”>
1:58
Why there’s growing pushback against AI data centres
- Why there’s growing pushback against AI data centres
Wheatland County residents weigh in on proposed data centre at public hearing
Humanoid robots take to the pitch in South Korea at RoboCup 2026 finals
Saskatchewan startups turning to AI to accelerate growth
Alberta greenlights $4.6b natural gas plant to fuel data centres
The letter, which has only four sentences, says leaders must “build the incentives, guardrails, and institutions needed to steer AI in a direction that complements humans and benefits society.”
Get daily National news
Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News’ Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
The Stanford lab says the letter has so far been signed by more than 200 economists and AI researchers, including 16 winners of a Nobel Prize.
Computer scientist and AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio was among the signatories and said in a separate statement that based on the trajectory of AI development, “it is highly plausible that AI will drastically transform our economies.”
“We must be intentional and make collective, democratic choices, rather than letting market forces play out and risking leaving most citizens behind,” wrote Bengio, a professor at the University of Montreal.
