New technologies perceived as job-destroying, like AI, face significant public and regulatory risk. A powerful defense is to make the general public owners of the technology. When people have a financial stake in a technology's success, they are far more likely to defend it than fight against it.

In its largest user study, OpenAI's research team frames AI not just as a product but as a fundamental utility, stating its belief that "access to AI should be treated as a basic right." This perspective signals a long-term ambition for AI to become as integral to society as electricity or internet access.

In a move prioritizing access over monetization, OpenAI plans to offer its reasoning-level ChatGPT Health product to all users for free, without ads or rate limits. This represents an early form of 'universal basic intelligence' and a deliberate strategy to build trust and maximize societal benefit in a high-stakes domain, separating its health impact work from other company incentives.

The risk of malicious actors using powerful AI decision tools is significant. The most effective countermeasure is not to restrict the technology, but to ensure it is widely and equitably distributed. This prevents any single group from gaining a dangerous strategic advantage over others.

Rather than UBI, Vinod Khosla suggests governments should use AI to offer essential services like healthcare and education for free. This drastically reduces living costs and improves quality of life, offering an alternative path to social equity.

The concentration of AI power in a few tech giants is a market choice, not a technological inevitability. Publicly funded, non-profit-motivated models, like one from Switzerland's ETH Zurich, prove that competitive and ethically-trained AI can be created without corporate control or the profit motive.

To avoid a future where a few companies control AI and hold society hostage, the underlying intelligence layer must be commoditized. This prevents "landlords" of proprietary models from extracting rent and ensures broader access and competition.

Instead of an exclusive AI partner, Apple could offer a choice of AI agents (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) on setup, similar to the EU's browser choice screen. This would create a competitive marketplace for AI assistants on billions of devices, driving significant investment and innovation across the industry.

Big tech companies are offering their most advanced AI models via a "tokens by the drink" pricing model. This is incredible for startups, as it provides access to the world's most magical technology on a usage basis, allowing them to get started and scale without massive upfront capital investment.