If you truly believe we are entering an AI-driven economy, then universal basic capital (UBC) should already be at the top of every policymaker’s agenda.
AI is not just a productivity tool; it is a capital amplifier. The wealth it generates will flow primarily to those who own the technology — or the companies building and scaling it. As Berggruen rightly notes in the FT, this will widen the gap between those who hold financial assets and those who don’t.
Today, if you’re financially literate and brave enough, you can capture some of that upside — by investing in hyperscalers, chipmakers like NVIDIA, or AI-exposed ETFs. But the majority of people, especially across Europe, can’t or won’t. Financial literacy is low, and participation in capital markets is limited.
That means the very people who could benefit most from AI-driven growth — middle- and lower-income workers — will be systematically excluded from it.
This is why universal basic capital is not just an economic idea, but a democratic necessity. Unlike universal basic income, which redistributes wealth after it’s created, UBC predistributes ownership in the engines of future prosperity.
Australia’s superannuation model shows how this can work: automatic contributions, long-term compounding, and a national savings pool that now exceeds the country’s GDP. Imagine if Europe applied the same principle to the AI economy — giving every citizen an equity stake in the companies building the digital infrastructure of tomorrow.
Draghi’s proposed €800 billion EU-level investment plan could be the foundation. If coupled with a European AI Sovereignty Fund that channels part of that capital into citizen-owned investment accounts, Europe could turn AI into a collective asset, not just a corporate one.
The alternative is clear — a future where AI productivity lifts GDP while social inequality explodes.
In short, if AI is the new oil, ownership must be the new redistribution. Without universal basic capital, we risk building the most unequal prosperity boom in modern history.
