Engineer Venkatesh Rao argues in an essay that AI elites might hoard intelligence like mercantilists once hoarded gold, treating it as a scarce and dangerous resource rather than an expanding asset. In his tech blog Contraptions, Rao compares modern AI fears to mercantilism, noting that some executives exploit safety concerns for political influence and wish to keep models expensive and withheld from rivals. Rather than viewing intelligence as finite, Rao suggests that open access to artificial intelligence will dramatically increase the demand for human ideas.
While many worry that artificial intelligence will cause widespread job losses, Rao contends that AI will actually make complex projects feasible and affordable, leading people to think and create more. Drawing a parallel to early capitalism where people worked more to buy consumer goods, he envisions a future where autonomous AI agents pursue their own projects and generate new demand for intelligence. The core political focus moving forward should therefore center on ensuring fair access to AI rather than desperately protecting legacy knowledge jobs.
This perspective challenges the prevailing narrative among some tech executives who view openly available AI models as a threat to societal stability. By reframing artificial intelligence as an abundant resource rather than a hoarded commodity, Rao highlights the importance of democratic distribution. Understanding this economic shift matters because it directs policy toward equitable access rather than restrictive, elite-controlled AI deployment.