Google Funds 6 Bay Area Income Programs as A.I. Job Loss Fears Revive UBI
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 12
Google Funds 6 Bay Area Income Programs as A.I. Job Loss Fears Revive UBI
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 12
Summary
$50 million from Google has backed six guaranteed-income programs in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2022, with hundreds of participants receiving about $1,000 a month.
The experiments are gaining attention as A.I. job-loss fears revive interest in universal basic income, which tech leaders including Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei have promoted as a response.
Google said the funding was aimed at preventing homelessness in one of the country's most expensive regions, while academics track whether no-strings cash improves stability and work outcomes.
The programs still face practical limits: state and federal tax rules cap both how long payments can last and how much recipients can receive.