The Odd Couple Nobody Saw Coming: Main Street and Wall Street on AI's Payday

Some days the universe sprinkles cosmic content dust right in your lap.

Moments after I hit “publish” on last week’s post about democratizing the economic spoils of AI via a sovereign wealth fund, Just Capital released new polling research on how the public, investors, and corporate leaders think AI-driven gains should be spent.

(Perhaps my next “publish” should be about winning the lottery, eh, universe?  I digress…)

You won’t be shocked that all three groups in Just Capital’s polling aren’t in synch, though you might be interested to find that two of the three are largely in alignment, and this odd coupling might just surprise you.

Sixty-three percent of the public thinks that productivity gains –  $$$  –  should be reinvested in workers.  Institutional investors go even higher than that, with 67 percent believing the same.  There’s your odd couple.

Meanwhile, 72 percent of corporate, err, leaders, believe these gains should be reinvested in R&D, followed by 54 percent of the same crowd wanting the upside to be distributed to shareholders.

(These percentages were derived by asking the groups to select their top three priorities for distributing AI gains.)

“Our research suggests some sizeable gaps exist between how corporate leaders think about AI deployment and what the public and investors would like to see,” said Just Capital CEO Martin Whittaker.

No shit, Martin.

Here are the three top-line findings in the survey:

• The American public believes AI will boost economic growth. (Duh.)
• Large-scale job loss remains a significant and troubling issue. (Yup and yup.)
• Corporate leaders may finally be waking up to the public’s concerns. (Hello!)

One finding from the corporate leader polling really turned my head; the percentage of respondents voicing alarm about large-scale job loss nearly doubled from its measurement this spring.  That’s three months, give or take! 

If you think CEOs won’t lay off workers to gain a few pennies per share for their next quarterly earnings release, this polling should disabuse you of that notion.  They are axing people by the thousands right now.

Just Capital, which is in the business of ranking companies on issues including workers, communities, and the environment, provides a summary of the polling’s findings and a complete download of the research here.

Godspeed, friends.

Russ

🤔 Think About It

"Be a fountain, not a drain." Rex Hudler

💥 Quick Hits

• C is for Clemency - If you'll remember back to last week's issue, reader Dave Morris added "clemency" to our list of C words that are symbolic of our current President's corruption. Well, we're keeping the ball rolling here with this week's addition: Trump Administration Shutters Criminal Probe of Fraudster's Clemency.
• Word of the Week – Shambolic: chaotic, disorganized, or mismanaged. I've never come across this word in 67+ years; obviously, it must have its root in "sham," though I couldn't find that link? As in: Our sham government is shambolic.
• SpaceX Flunks ESG Class – SpaceX just registered the lowest possible ESG ratings from global financial services firm MSCI, highlighted by exceptionally low ratings for controversies and governance. Yesterday, its stock fell 6% on the news in premarket trading. Said CEO Elon Musk – and I shit you not – "Unfortunately, electric rockets are impossible."

Trivia Time

How many tech jobs have been eliminated so far this year?

• 50,000
• 70,000
• 120,000
• 195,000

The answer can be found at the end of this issue.

Pantone Color of the Year

As longtime readers know, I generally cover Pantone's Color of the Year when it is announced. The race is definitely on, as ever-vigilant color follower and Godspeed reader John Brunelle sent me a front runner for this year's preeminent color. What do you think? ⬇️

Trivia Answer

Picture yourself living in Montana's largest city, Billings. On January 1 of this year, the first U-Haul rumbles out of town because someone lost their job. And each and every day since then, 670 of your neighbors have moved. Today, less than six months later, the last inhabitant – YOU! – gets laid off and moves, leaving your formerly thriving city of 120,000 people a ghost town in the wake of this job loss. Yup, if you guessed 120,000, you're the winner in this trivia question about losers. (Note: We found this stat through a cool, live site by a startup founder who tracks tech layoffs: layoffs.fyi.)