ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP
- David Sacks said AI and bots could boost the US economy and improve the nation's fiscal outlook.
- Sacks, the White House AI and crypto czar, said economic growth could ease worries about US debt.
- He said it's possible that we'll see "AI-powered robots expanding the economy massively."
David Sacks, the White House artificial intelligence and crypto czar, said it's possible that a productivity boost from AI and robots could be so powerful that it helps brighten the US financial picture.
Sacks said on an episode of the "All-In" podcast posted on Saturday that it's not clear whether recent bond market jitters over the prospect of rising US debt levels represent a "blip" or "some larger once-in-a-century type event."
He then said it's possible that a tech windfall could, in effect, rescue lawmakers who appear unwilling to make difficult decisions to reduce the nation's borrowing.
"I don't like America's fiscal picture at all, but what if the AI and robotics revolution plays out in the most optimistic way over the next decade and is massively deflationary, and we get basically AI-powered robots expanding the economy massively?" Sacks said.
Chamath Palihapitiya, the billionaire investor, interjected that such a scenario would require investments in the power grid, a notion that Sacks agreed with.
"My point is just what if the new technology provides an answer to the fiscal situation that's not currently on the table?" Sacks said.
The bot-savior scenario would be far more welcome than other outcomes some on Wall Street are predicting.
Torsten Sløk, the chief economist of Apollo Global Management, said Friday that the bond market appears to be pricing in a scenario of so-called stagflation, which occurs when growth is sluggish and inflation remains elevated.
That would put the US economy in a tough spot — a possible sequel to bouts of stagflation in the 1970s. Many economists fear such a scenario because it can be far more difficult for Federal Reserve policymakers to combat than run-of-the-mill recessions.
The idea that the tech gains could help the US shore up its finances comes as some industry observers have said the rise of AI and bots could come at the expense of workers booted from their jobs.
Others have a more optimistic take. Namely, that AI will be a productivity accelerator, allowing people to get more done. That's the type of grow-the-pie scenario that Sacks, a close friend of Elon Musk, appeared to indicate was possible.
It's an idea the Tesla CEO shares. Musk said this month that tens of billions of humanoid robots could one day remake the global economy. The Tesla CEO said that level of automation could lead to a "universal high income" in which goods and services become so readily available that "no one wants for anything."
That followed Musk's comments in October that Tesla's humanoid Optimus could amount to the "biggest product ever of any kind."
Before floating the idea of a massive tech boost, Sacks said it was still unclear what might play out with the nation's finances and the bond market.
"The reality is we don't know exactly what's going to happen," he said.
Sacks and the White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.