Universal Basic Capital for AI

Policymakers should create broad, non‑means‑tested capital ownership (shares, sovereign AI dividends, or token/asset levies) tied to returns from large AI platforms so that AI’s productivity gains translate into widespread financial stakes rather than concentrated asset appreciation. The aim is to restore perceived fairness, buttress upward mobility, and reduce the populist backlash that follows visible asset concentration. — If AI concentrates wealth without public mechanisms for sharing returns, democratic legitimacy and social mobility could erode; universal basic capital is a specific policy frame to anchor debates about redistribution in the AI era.