--- title: "Sam Altman Has Been Quietly Giving Out Money for Basic Income" description: "OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has for years now been quietly giving folks a universal basic income to see if it works." date: "2024-07-22" modified: "2024-07-22" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sam-altman-ubi-study" categories: - "Finance" - "Future Society" - "Universal Basic Income" tags: - "sam altman" - "the digest" - "UBI" - "universal basic income" --- # Sam Altman Has Been Quietly Giving Out Money for Basic Income ![OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has for years now been quietly giving folks a universal basic income to see if it works.]() *\Image: Kent Nishimura via Getty / Futurism\* ## Big Picture OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has for years been quietly giving folks a universal basic income (UBI) as part of a study to see how well such a scheme would work — and now, the results are in. The Altman nonprofit that conducted the study, fittingly named OpenResearch, [announced in its report]() on its "unconditional cash study" some intriguing — though mixed — results. "We do see significant reductions in stress, mental distress, and food insecurity during the first year, but those effects fade out by the second and third years of the program," the report explained. "Cash alone cannot address challenges such as chronic health conditions, lack of childcare, or the high cost of housing." The research organization enrolled 3,000 people in Texas and Illinois who had incomes below $28,000 annually. A third of those got $1,000 a month, while the other two-thirds who acted as a control group got a mere $50, and all groups were paid out over the course of three years. ## Thrifty Spenders Of the 1,000 people who received the larger payments, spending increased by about $310 per month, OpenResearch explained. Most of that cash went to rent, food, and transportation, but that cohort also helped others who were in need more than the control group, too. Beyond helping out others, which is a [documented hallmark in lower-income communities]() to begin with, the researchers also found that those in the $1,000 UBI cohort also saw a 20 percent decrease in "problematic drinking" and a whopping 53 percent decline in taking prescription painkillers not prescribed to them, too. The results aren't surprising; many UBI studies have shown [similarly promising results](), but the political will to enact it on a large scale is currently difficult to imagine. Notably, the OpenResearch study doesn't seem to be related to [WorldCoin](), Altman's *other* pseudo-UBI project that pays out crypto to people who [allow their eyeballs to be scanned]() so that they can be verified as human. **More on Altman:** [*Sam Altman Admits Its Letters-and-Numbers Salad Product Names Like "GPT-4o Mini" Are Horrible*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()