Hundreds of economists and AI researchers, including Nobel laureates and senior tech executives, have issued a blunt, four-sentence warning that we must act now to get ready for the economic shock waves advanced artificial intelligence could unleash. The statement, organized through Stanford’s Digital Economy Lab, warns that powerful AI systems may arrive within a decade and could transform the economy faster than earlier industrial revolutions.
The letter opens with the line that “AI may become radically more powerful over the next 10 years” and notes that while AI could lift living standards, it also carries serious risks such as large-scale job losses. It urges economists, policymakers and technology leaders to design “the incentives, guardrails, and institutions needed to steer AI in a direction that complements humans and benefits society,” according to the We Must Act Now statement.
Who signed
Stanford’s lab reports that more than 200 economists and AI researchers have signed on so far, including sixteen Nobel laureates, according to the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. Named organizers include Erik Brynjolfsson, Ajay Agrawal and Anton Korinek, and the signers list pairs academic heavyweights with industry leaders such as Jeff Dean, Jack Clark and OpenAI finance chief Sarah Friar, as listed on the statement.
What researchers are seeing
The lab’s own research helps explain the sense of urgency. A November 2025 working paper from the Digital Economy Lab found that early-career workers ages 22 to 25 in the most AI-exposed occupations saw an approximately 16 percent relative decline in employment after the widespread adoption of generative AI. The authors report that those declines appear to run mainly through hiring decisions rather than wages, and they are clustered in roles where automation is more feasible.
What the letter asks leaders to do
The four-line statement calls for deeper economic research and for new policies and institutions to be built now, not after the dust settles, in order to push AI toward complementing human labor instead of sidelining it. Lab director Erik Brynjolfsson warned that “AI capabilities are advancing far faster than our understanding of the economic implications,” and other signers argue that waiting for perfect clarity would leave societies scrambling to catch up.
Why Bay Area readers should care
The Bay Area is home to many of the companies, research labs and junior workers most exposed to this shift, so whatever rules and institutions are tested here are likely to ripple far beyond local payrolls. The statement and its signatories have already drawn coverage from major outlets, a sign that the fight over AI and the labor market has moved out of academic journals and into mainstream policy debate, as reported by The Associated Press.
For the full text and the current signatory list, see the We Must Act Now statement and the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. The lab also posts the underlying research the organizers cite and provides an email contact for questions about the roster.
