Last week, OpenAI released a policy document titled “Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age: Ideas to Keep People First.” If you work in the nonprofit sector, it is worth a close read.
The document calls for a public wealth fund to share AI’s economic gains more broadly, fast-response safety net programs to support workers who lose jobs to automation, and investment in job training to help people find their footing as industries change. The document also calls for major investment in the electrical grid to power all of this technology. That will affect communities too, particularly those that host large data centers or deal with rising energy costs. But for this post, we are focusing on the workforce and safety net pieces, because that is where nonprofits are most directly positioned to act.
Before going further, it is worth naming something directly. OpenAI is not a charity. It is a company valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, and the technology it is building is a big part of what will drive the very disruption these proposals are meant to address. There is real self-interest baked into a policy document that asks the government to build safety nets while the company continues to grow. That tension is worth keeping in mind as you read.
The acknowledgment that AI will displace workers, concentrate wealth, and put more pressure on the systems people rely on is significant, regardless of who is saying it. The solutions being discussed, expanded safety nets, job retraining, shared economic benefit, are the things nonprofits have been doing for a long time. That matters.
This Is Not a Distant Policy Debate
It is easy to read a headline about AI policy and think it is happening somewhere else. But if your organization works in job training, housing, food access, mental health, or direct social services, you are looking at a preview of what is coming unless policy makers, nonprofit organizations, and community leaders act quickly. AI is already changing the job market. The workers most likely to be affected first are people in routine and entry-level roles, often the same people who turn to nonprofits when things get hard. The demand for what you do is increasing. The question is not whether your community will feel this. The question is whether the organizations that know those communities best will have a seat at the table when the response is being designed.
Nonprofits Bring Something No Policy Document Can
OpenAI can release a proposal. It cannot sit with a family after a job loss and help them figure out what to do next. It cannot build the kind of trust that makes someone willing to ask for help. It cannot explain a retraining program in a way that actually makes sense to a 52-year-old who has worked the same job for twenty years. This is what your organization does and why your voice belongs in this conversation.
You have a relationship with the people most affected by economic disruption that no tech company and very few government agencies can claim. That relationship is an asset. Using it to help shape how future policies around AI are designed and implemented is essential.
What Does Showing Up Look Like?
Being part of this conversation does not mean becoming an expert on tech policy. It means doing what nonprofits already do well, just in a new arena. Stay current on what is being proposed. The OpenAI document is one example, and there will be more. Federal and state agencies will start building workforce programs and safety net changes in response to AI’s impact. Organizations that are paying attention now will be better positioned to shape those programs and access the funding that comes with them.
Tell your story. Start talking with elected officials in your community. The people making policy decisions often do not have firsthand knowledge of what your clients experience. Sharing real stories, data, and on-the-ground experience is how that changes.
A Word on “People First”
It is hard to miss that OpenAI named its document with “People First” language. At NonprofitNext, that phrase is at the core of what we do. We use it to mean that technology decisions should serve the people doing the work and the people being served. Seeing it appear in a major policy document is worth noting. But words are easy. Whether a for-profit company building AI technology is truly committed to a people-first vision is something to watch. Nonprofit organizations are well positioned to ask the hard questions and hold the AI tech giants and policy makers accountable.
The Takeaway
OpenAI’s proposals are an admission that AI will cause real disruption for society. The safety net programs being discussed are not abstract ideas. They may well become the programs your organization is asked to deliver. Showing up for the conversations around policy and funding now will benefit both your organization and the communities you serve in the near future.