A broad coalition of more than 200 leading researchers and economists, including 15 Nobel Prize-winning economists and senior research leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, has issued an urgent appeal to governments and global technology leaders to accelerate the development of policies, legislation and regulatory institutions capable of managing the far-reaching economic consequences of the artificial intelligence revolution.
In a joint statement, the experts warned that AI is poised to trigger a structural and economic transformation more profound than the Industrial Revolution. However, unlike previous technological shifts that unfolded over decades, AI-driven change is expected to occur within a highly compressed timeframe, creating unprecedented challenges for workers, businesses and public institutions across the world.
The signatories called for expanded academic research and financial studies into AI’s direct impact on labour markets and financial systems. They also urged policymakers to immediately establish regulatory and institutional frameworks that would ensure AI serves broader societal development while strengthening financial systems against the risks posed by large-scale job displacement and widespread unemployment.
Commenting on the initiative, Anton Korinek, Professor at the University of Virginia, said that previous technological breakthroughs—including steam power, electricity and computers—gave societies decades to adapt, whereas artificial intelligence may offer only a few years.
“We cannot afford to improvise our strategies and institutions in the middle of such a sweeping transformation,” Korinek said. “Waiting until the full picture becomes clear simply means we will arrive too late.”
Korinek, who joined Anthropic’s economics research team in March 2026, led the initiative alongside prominent economists Erik Brynjolfsson, Ajay Agrawal and Tom Cunningham under what they described as a structural resilience initiative for the digital economy.
The statement was also endorsed by several senior technology executives and researchers, including OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar, Google DeepMind Chief Scientist Jeff Dean, Anthropic Co-founder Jack Clark, and members of the research team behind Anthropic’s Claude AI assistant.
Among the signatories were several Nobel laureates in economics, including Michael Spence, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, reflecting broad consensus across both academia and the technology sector.
The report concluded that this rare alignment between leading economists and technology executives underscores growing concerns over the pace of AI development and the need for robust legal and regulatory safeguards to protect the financial stability and social resilience of economies worldwide.
