The rapid and consistent advances in AI over the past few years have created the potential for both enormous wealth creation and huge job losses. As with other fundamental changes in an economy – the discovery of oil, the running of large trade surpluses – AI raises the question of how the gains of one generation can benefit the population broadly, today and for generations to come.

For some, the answer to that question is Universal Basic Capital. UBC would give citizens ownership in AI companies, assets or revenues. This is distinct from Universal Basic Income, which is the simple redistribution of money without any ties to capital markets or investment returns over time.

Recently, aspects of UBC have been endorsed by politicians on both sides of the aisle – Gavin Newsom, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Steve Bannon – and business leaders, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Google’s James Manyika.

None of this is a new idea. Oil-rich nations have addressed the issue of how to effectively take the windfall of oil discoveries and invest in assets that will yield returns over multiple generations. Countries employ two distinct models to manage these newfound gains: the sovereign wealth fund or the state-owned company.

As the conversation around UBC picks up in the U.S., the distinction between these two structures will form the crux of the debate over how AI gains should be managed.

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