Who Will Be AI’s First Billionaire? Trick Question: Tyler Cowen

Great advances in technology often result in vast increases of wealth. So as the AI boom continues, one obvious question is who will profit — and by how much. My view, which may be deflationary for entrepreneurs but good for consumers, is this: Relative to how much artificial intelligence changes the world, its early pioneers won’t get especially rich.

Truly fundamental changes alter every part of the economy. They do so only by becoming freely or readily available across a wide range of sectors. Money will be made from AI, but it will be hard to capture anything close to ...