Sam Altman said that artificial intelligence is disrupting the balance of labor and capital, and it is still unclear how to address this.

Brief overview of Sam Altman's speech at the BlackRock summit

At BlackRock’s infrastructure event, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman discussed growing public skepticism toward artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on labor markets. He confirmed that concerns about how AI is shifting the balance between labor and capital are not unfounded.

1. The “bull‑shit” excuse for companies
Altman noted that in recent years AI has become a convenient justification for workforce cuts and rising utility costs:

- “Data centers are blamed for higher electricity prices,” he said.
- “Almost every company that is laying people off points to AI, even if the real reason is something else.”

Nevertheless, the OpenAI head acknowledged a genuine threat to traditional jobs.

2. Reshaping capitalism
During his speech he recalled a quote about how humanity has spent centuries learning to manage scarcity, and now must quickly adapt to abundance. This is “a real shift in how capitalism worked.”

- Capitalism previously relied on a balance between labor and capital.
- If it’s hard for modern professions to “outperform a GPU in productivity,” the rules of the game change.

Altman emphasized that no universal solution has been found:

> “If there were a simple fix, we would have already found it. So nobody knows what to do.”

3. The rise of AI’s economic usefulness
He noted that over recent months AI has moved from helping write code to performing complex tasks across various intellectual labor domains. This accelerates technological evolution and makes them more “proactive” – they can plan work on their own like an experienced employee.

4. Changes in business models
The shift is already reflected in startup strategy:

- The new generation of companies deliberately avoids large staffs.
- Entrepreneurs create “zero‑employee startups,” relying on AI for software development, legal work, and customer support.

Thus Altman underscored that AI is changing not only workflows but also the fundamental principles of capitalist economics.