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### 5. Keep a public stake in the machine economy (2031-34)
The US dividend in AI 2040 comes from compute permits. By 2035, the scenario sends 75% of the US permit share to US citizens. Australia and New Zealand cannot rely on that. Our dividend would need resource royalties, land taxes, and public equity held through the Future Fund and NZ Super. Those rules need to exist before cognitive labour becomes cheap and wage earners lose their bargaining power. ([Economics of Plan A](https://ai-2040.com/supplements/economics-of-plan-a)) <!-- local evidence: economics-of-plan-a.md:368 -->
The US dividend in AI 2040 comes from compute permits. By 2035, the scenario sends 75% of the US permit share to US citizens. Australia and New Zealand cannot rely on that. Our dividend would need resource royalties, land taxes, and public equity held through the Future Fund and NZ Super. Those rules need to exist before cognitive labour becomes cheap and wage earners lose their bargaining power. ([Economics of Plan A](https://ai-2040.com/supplements/economics-of-plan-a)) <!-- local evidence: economics-of-plan-a.md:368 -->then
Who owns the rents matters more than the size of the boom. The same ore and land can support a public dividend or a few mining dynasties. Leicht and Ball warn that selling a strategic firm can look like an unexpected windfall while giving up the country's "ticket guaranteeing their home country's stake in the AI economy." In a rapid takeoff, taking only cash is especially bad: the useful payment is equity, access, or ownership of productive assets. ([The Race Worth Winning](https://www.thefai.org/posts/the-race-worth-winning-middle-powers-in-the-age-of-machine-intelligence)) <!-- local evidence: fai-race-worth-winning.md:1747-1762 -->
@@ -65,11 +65,11 @@ Yudkowsky and Soares state the doom case much more strongly than our estimate:
>
> Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, [*If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies*](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/eliezer-yudkowsky/if-anyone-builds-it-everyone-dies/9780316595667/)
Once control is lost, Australia has no policy response left. The preparations above have to improve the odds before then.
Once control is lost, Australia has no policy response left. The preparations above aim to improve the odds before that happens.
### II. Someone else's empire, about 25%
The AI remains aligned, but control does not spread. A government, company, or person holds the decisive systems. Australia and New Zealand may be materially rich, especially while iron demand is high, but they live under rules set elsewhere.
The AI remains aligned, but control of that AI does not spread. A government, company, or person holds the decisive systems. Australia and New Zealand may be materially rich, especially while iron demand is high, but they live under rules set elsewhere.
> "a tiny group of people, or possibly just a single individual, is effectively in control of the worlds only army of superintelligences"
>
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ The AI remains aligned, but control does not spread. A government, company, or p
### III. Dividend commonwealth
We negotiated terms, captured resource and land rents, and built the dividend before wages collapsed. Households share in the assets that became valuable instead of watching those assets reprice around them. The better version also uses AI inside courts, health systems, and government rather than treating it only as something to regulate.
We negotiated terms, captured resource and land rents, and built the dividend before wages collapsed. Households share in the through a payment that is better than other countries but worse the the superpowers.
> "In Plan A, most of the US permit revenue share (75% in 2035) is redistributed to the US population as a Citizens Dividend, resulting in roughly $1M/yr per person in 2035 and around $10M/yr in 2040."
>
@@ -85,17 +85,17 @@ We negotiated terms, captured resource and land rents, and built the dividend be
### IV. Quarry economy
This is the drift outcome. The country exports what the robot economy needs, but has no dividend rail and no public stake. AI 2040's land model makes the distribution problem concrete: single-family homes rise about 40 times while 97% of their paper value becomes land. Incumbent owners gain while cognitive wages fall. The nation is rich and the median household is poor, without anyone needing to plan it. <!-- local evidence: economics-of-plan-a.md:389 -->
This is the drift outcome. The country exports what the robot economy needs, but captures none of the upside. <!-- local evidence: economics-of-plan-a.md:389 -->
> "As AI devalues human capital relative to physical and intangible assets, capital income consumes a growing proportion of national income. Elevated spending on luxury goods and a productivity-driven investment boom sustains elevated economic growth even as millions face unemployment and diminished purchasing power."
>
> UK Government Office for Science and AI Security Institute, [AI Scenarios 2030](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-scenarios-2030-helping-policymakers-plan-for-the-future-of-ai/ai-scenarios-2030-helping-policymakers-plan-for-the-future-of-ai) <!-- local evidence: govuk-ai-scenarios-2030.md:655 -->
The resource boom also expires. On current reserves and extraction, iron is the shortest-dated major reserve at roughly 55 years. A machine economy growing every 6-12 months would bring exhaustion and substitution forward. AI 2040 models the demand for energy and land, but not the Australian terms of trade or the cost of scaling mines.
The resource boom eventually expires or space mining becomes cheaper. A machine economy growing every 6-12 months would bring exhaustion and substitution forward.
### V. Allied compute host
Australia accepts the data centres and robot zones, but only after securing access and ownership terms. Land, power, and Five Eyes trust become a stake in the machine economy. The price is physical exposure: the hosted clusters are treaty collateral, and the treaty's wars become ours.
Australia accepts the data centres and robot zones, but only after securing access and ownership terms. Land, power, and Five Eyes trust become a stake in the machine economy. The price is physical exposure: the hosted clusters are managed as treaty collateral, and the treaty's wars become our own.
> "If the US withdraws AI access, allies could destroy US data centres in response. It's a way to lock in the deal."
>
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ Australia accepts the data centres and robot zones, but only after securing acce
### VI. Garrison ally
The deal collapses and Australia chooses the US bloc. We keep the security relationship and lose much of the Chinese market. Iron becomes a strategic allocation rather than an ordinary export. This future is poorer and tenser than the dividend or hosting alternatives, but Australia still has a seat.
The deal collapses and Australia chooses the US bloc. We keep the security relationship and lose much of the Chinese market. Iron becomes a strategic allocation. This future is poorer and tenser than the dividend or hosting alternatives, but Australia still has a seat at the table.
> "middle powers should help the US, and make sure they are rewarded with continued access to frontier AI and new technologies (including military tech)"
>
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ The deal collapses and Australia chooses the US bloc. We keep the security relat
### VII. Boring decade, about 10%
AI stalls or governments shut the frontier down. The consents are unused, the royalty argument was early, and the extra biosecurity capacity looks like insurance that did not pay. This is the cheapest way for our preparations to be wrong.
AI stalls or governments shut the frontier down.
> "AI progress slows, and AI causes less disruption than expected."
>
@@ -131,14 +131,17 @@ The deal declines, but a coalition formed before the crisis holds together. Aust
This is the domestic version of the global power-grab risk. Cognitive wages collapse, public ownership never develops, and automated security removes the state's remaining practical dependence on citizens. No coup is required. Political leverage drains away with economic leverage.
> Luckily we completely dodged a coup and now have Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL) Gina Palmer to lead us through. Everyone is very happy, especially since the free beer, rugby, and netball are a great respite from our quickly shrinking population and ever more confusing global situation. - Joe Citizen, 2041
> "AI could create a similar effect: if governments can generate massive revenue from taxing AI projects rather than citizens, heads of state may lose their economic incentive to ensure citizens prosper. This would weaken citizens power to resist coup and backsliding attempts."
>
> "By replacing government employees with loyal AI systems, a head of state could remove important checks on their power."
>
> Davidson, Finnveden, and Hadshar, [AI-Enabled Coups](https://www.forethought.org/research/ai-enabled-coups-how-a-small-group-could-use-ai-to-seize-power) <!-- local evidence: forethought-ai-enabled-coups.md:425-431 -->
To illustrate the risk, here's what a fictional Australian citizen might have written in 2041:
> Luckily we completely dodged a coup and now have Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL) Gina Palmer to lead us through. Everyone is very happy, especially since the free beer, rugby, and netball are a great respite from our quickly shrinking population and ever more confusing global situation. - Joe Citizen, 2041
## Where we depart from AI 2040
AI 2040 models energy consumption rising about eight times by 2040 and notes that proven mineral reserves cover decades of current extraction, but it does not price the tonnage needed for a robot economy growing every 6-12 months. Coal, uranium, energy trade, and Australian mine capacity are outside its model. ([Economics of Plan A](https://ai-2040.com/supplements/economics-of-plan-a))
@@ -153,7 +156,7 @@ We leave out a trans-Tasman split and a separate Australian decision during US s
This is built from the AI Futures Project's [AI 2040](https://ai-2040.com) scenario and supplements. Their caveat applies to our use of the numbers too: the economic model "plausibly contains bugs" and they do not trust its outputs to be accurate. The local source mirrors retain exact line references for auditing.
It also benefited from a June 2026 scoping discussion with authors of related scenarios and Australian policy participants. Those workshop notes are private and are not included in the public source archive.
Thanks also to the authors of related scenarios and the Australian policy people who joined a June 2026 scoping discussion.
<small><sup>*</sup> The Australian and New Zealand decisions and futures are extrapolations from the cited work. A citation means we used that source, not that its authors endorse this scenario.</small>
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<p>Hosting creates exposure as well as income. The same cluster can be a target, collateral for the treaty, and leverage against being cut off. Tom Davidson makes the mechanism explicit: if the US withdraws AI access, allies could destroy US data centres on their territory. A kill switch negotiated at accession is leverage. A foreign cluster accepted without access rights is just exposure. (<a href="https://newsletter.forethought.org/p/how-can-the-middle-powers-avoid-getting">Davidson 2026</a>)</p>
<p>There is also a smaller trusted-vault option. Australia could host cold-storage model weights, treaty verification equipment, or monitoring linked to Pine Gap without hosting the whole robot economy. Geologically stable ground and Five Eyes trust make this the lowest-volume version of the policy.</p>
<h3 id="5-keep-a-public-stake-in-the-machine-economy-2031-34">5. Keep a public stake in the machine economy (2031-34)</h3>
<p>The US dividend in AI 2040 comes from compute permits. By 2035, the scenario sends 75% of the US permit share to US citizens. Australia and New Zealand cannot rely on that. Our dividend would need resource royalties, land taxes, and public equity held through the Future Fund and NZ Super. Those rules need to exist before cognitive labour becomes cheap and wage earners lose their bargaining power. (<a href="https://ai-2040.com/supplements/economics-of-plan-a">Economics of Plan A</a>)</p>
<p>The US dividend in AI 2040 comes from compute permits. By 2035, the scenario sends 75% of the US permit share to US citizens. Australia and New Zealand cannot rely on that. Our dividend would need resource royalties, land taxes, and public equity held through the Future Fund and NZ Super. Those rules need to exist before cognitive labour becomes cheap and wage earners lose their bargaining power. (<a href="https://ai-2040.com/supplements/economics-of-plan-a">Economics of Plan A</a>) then</p>
<p>Who owns the rents matters more than the size of the boom. The same ore and land can support a public dividend or a few mining dynasties. Leicht and Ball warn that selling a strategic firm can look like an unexpected windfall while giving up the country's "ticket guaranteeing their home country's stake in the AI economy." In a rapid takeoff, taking only cash is especially bad: the useful payment is equity, access, or ownership of productive assets. (<a href="https://www.thefai.org/posts/the-race-worth-winning-middle-powers-in-the-age-of-machine-intelligence">The Race Worth Winning</a>)</p>
<p>Australia probably starts above the generic non-US country. Compulsory superannuation gives many households an existing claim on global capital, while mining gives governments a claim on inputs the robot economy needs. Neither is evenly shared by default. Superannuation gains follow existing balances and investment choices. Mining income reaches households only when royalties, taxes, public ownership, or transfers capture it. That is what separates the Dividend commonwealth from the Quarry economy.</p>
<p>The political claim is stronger, and more speculative. If governments no longer depend on wages or citizen labour, owners and automated security may stop needing broad consent. A legally entrenched citizen claim on public assets keeps ordinary people tied to the revenue stream and gives them something material to defend through democratic institutions. We are treating distribution as a constraint on domestic power, not merely as welfare.</p>
@@ -207,41 +207,41 @@ footer { margin-top: 3rem; padding-top: 1rem; border-top: 1px solid var(--rule);
<p>"If any company or group, anywhere on the planet, builds an artificial superintelligence using anything remotely like current techniques, based on anything remotely like the present understanding of AI, then everyone, everywhere on Earth, will die."</p>
<p>Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/eliezer-yudkowsky/if-anyone-builds-it-everyone-dies/9780316595667/"><em>If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies</em></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Once control is lost, Australia has no policy response left. The preparations above have to improve the odds before then.</p>
<p>Once control is lost, Australia has no policy response left. The preparations above aim to improve the odds before that happens.</p>
<h3 id="ii-someone-elses-empire-about-25">II. Someone else's empire, about 25%</h3>
<p>The AI remains aligned, but control does not spread. A government, company, or person holds the decisive systems. Australia and New Zealand may be materially rich, especially while iron demand is high, but they live under rules set elsewhere.</p>
<p>The AI remains aligned, but control of that AI does not spread. A government, company, or person holds the decisive systems. Australia and New Zealand may be materially rich, especially while iron demand is high, but they live under rules set elsewhere.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"a tiny group of people, or possibly just a single individual, is effectively in control of the worlds only army of superintelligences"</p>
<p>AI Futures Project, <a href="https://ai-2040.com">AI 2040</a></p>
</blockquote>
<h3 id="iii-dividend-commonwealth">III. Dividend commonwealth</h3>
<p>We negotiated terms, captured resource and land rents, and built the dividend before wages collapsed. Households share in the assets that became valuable instead of watching those assets reprice around them. The better version also uses AI inside courts, health systems, and government rather than treating it only as something to regulate.</p>
<p>We negotiated terms, captured resource and land rents, and built the dividend before wages collapsed. Households share in the through a payment that is better than other countries but worse the the superpowers.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"In Plan A, most of the US permit revenue share (75% in 2035) is redistributed to the US population as a Citizens Dividend, resulting in roughly $1M/yr per person in 2035 and around $10M/yr in 2040."</p>
<p>AI Futures Project, <a href="https://ai-2040.com/supplements/economics-of-plan-a">Economics of Plan A</a></p>
</blockquote>
<h3 id="iv-quarry-economy">IV. Quarry economy</h3>
<p>This is the drift outcome. The country exports what the robot economy needs, but has no dividend rail and no public stake. AI 2040's land model makes the distribution problem concrete: single-family homes rise about 40 times while 97% of their paper value becomes land. Incumbent owners gain while cognitive wages fall. The nation is rich and the median household is poor, without anyone needing to plan it.</p>
<p>This is the drift outcome. The country exports what the robot economy needs, but captures none of the upside.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"As AI devalues human capital relative to physical and intangible assets, capital income consumes a growing proportion of national income. Elevated spending on luxury goods and a productivity-driven investment boom sustains elevated economic growth even as millions face unemployment and diminished purchasing power."</p>
<p>UK Government Office for Science and AI Security Institute, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-scenarios-2030-helping-policymakers-plan-for-the-future-of-ai/ai-scenarios-2030-helping-policymakers-plan-for-the-future-of-ai">AI Scenarios 2030</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The resource boom also expires. On current reserves and extraction, iron is the shortest-dated major reserve at roughly 55 years. A machine economy growing every 6-12 months would bring exhaustion and substitution forward. AI 2040 models the demand for energy and land, but not the Australian terms of trade or the cost of scaling mines.</p>
<p>The resource boom eventually expires or space mining becomes cheaper. A machine economy growing every 6-12 months would bring exhaustion and substitution forward.</p>
<h3 id="v-allied-compute-host">V. Allied compute host</h3>
<p>Australia accepts the data centres and robot zones, but only after securing access and ownership terms. Land, power, and Five Eyes trust become a stake in the machine economy. The price is physical exposure: the hosted clusters are treaty collateral, and the treaty's wars become ours.</p>
<p>Australia accepts the data centres and robot zones, but only after securing access and ownership terms. Land, power, and Five Eyes trust become a stake in the machine economy. The price is physical exposure: the hosted clusters are managed as treaty collateral, and the treaty's wars become our own.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"If the US withdraws AI access, allies could destroy US data centres in response. It's a way to lock in the deal."</p>
<p>Tom Davidson, <a href="https://newsletter.forethought.org/p/how-can-the-middle-powers-avoid-getting">How can the middle powers avoid getting trounced?</a></p>
</blockquote>
<h3 id="vi-garrison-ally">VI. Garrison ally</h3>
<p>The deal collapses and Australia chooses the US bloc. We keep the security relationship and lose much of the Chinese market. Iron becomes a strategic allocation rather than an ordinary export. This future is poorer and tenser than the dividend or hosting alternatives, but Australia still has a seat.</p>
<p>The deal collapses and Australia chooses the US bloc. We keep the security relationship and lose much of the Chinese market. Iron becomes a strategic allocation. This future is poorer and tenser than the dividend or hosting alternatives, but Australia still has a seat at the table.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"middle powers should help the US, and make sure they are rewarded with continued access to frontier AI and new technologies (including military tech)"</p>
<p>"The only alternative that makes sense to me is siding with China."</p>
<p>Tom Davidson, <a href="https://newsletter.forethought.org/p/how-can-the-middle-powers-avoid-getting">How can the middle powers avoid getting trounced?</a></p>
</blockquote>
<h3 id="vii-boring-decade-about-10">VII. Boring decade, about 10%</h3>
<p>AI stalls or governments shut the frontier down. The consents are unused, the royalty argument was early, and the extra biosecurity capacity looks like insurance that did not pay. This is the cheapest way for our preparations to be wrong.</p>
<p>AI stalls or governments shut the frontier down.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"AI progress slows, and AI causes less disruption than expected."</p>
<p>UK Government Office for Science and AI Security Institute, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-scenarios-2030-helping-policymakers-plan-for-the-future-of-ai/ai-scenarios-2030-helping-policymakers-plan-for-the-future-of-ai">AI Scenarios 2030</a></p>
@@ -255,13 +255,14 @@ footer { margin-top: 3rem; padding-top: 1rem; border-top: 1px solid var(--rule);
<h3 id="ix-homegrown-autocracy-free-beer-and-rugby-for-life">IX. <del>Homegrown autocracy</del> free beer and rugby for life</h3>
<p>This is the domestic version of the global power-grab risk. Cognitive wages collapse, public ownership never develops, and automated security removes the state's remaining practical dependence on citizens. No coup is required. Political leverage drains away with economic leverage.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Luckily we completely dodged a coup and now have Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL) Gina Palmer to lead us through. Everyone is very happy, especially since the free beer, rugby, and netball are a great respite from our quickly shrinking population and ever more confusing global situation. - Joe Citizen, 2041</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>"AI could create a similar effect: if governments can generate massive revenue from taxing AI projects rather than citizens, heads of state may lose their economic incentive to ensure citizens prosper. This would weaken citizens power to resist coup and backsliding attempts."</p>
<p>"By replacing government employees with loyal AI systems, a head of state could remove important checks on their power."</p>
<p>Davidson, Finnveden, and Hadshar, <a href="https://www.forethought.org/research/ai-enabled-coups-how-a-small-group-could-use-ai-to-seize-power">AI-Enabled Coups</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>To illustrate the risk, here's what a fictional Australian citizen might have written in 2041:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Luckily we completely dodged a coup and now have Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL) Gina Palmer to lead us through. Everyone is very happy, especially since the free beer, rugby, and netball are a great respite from our quickly shrinking population and ever more confusing global situation. - Joe Citizen, 2041</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="where-we-depart-from-ai-2040">Where we depart from AI 2040</h2>
<p>AI 2040 models energy consumption rising about eight times by 2040 and notes that proven mineral reserves cover decades of current extraction, but it does not price the tonnage needed for a robot economy growing every 6-12 months. Coal, uranium, energy trade, and Australian mine capacity are outside its model. (<a href="https://ai-2040.com/supplements/economics-of-plan-a">Economics of Plan A</a>)</p>
<p>We use its land estimates with the authors' warning that this is a "very rough model" they do not necessarily endorse. We also give model character and activation steering more weight than their roadmap does.</p>
@@ -269,7 +270,7 @@ footer { margin-top: 3rem; padding-top: 1rem; border-top: 1px solid var(--rule);
<p>We leave out a trans-Tasman split and a separate Australian decision during US sabotage operations because neither changes the main choices above.</p>
<h2 id="sources-and-thanks">Sources and thanks</h2>
<p>This is built from the AI Futures Project's <a href="https://ai-2040.com">AI 2040</a> scenario and supplements. Their caveat applies to our use of the numbers too: the economic model "plausibly contains bugs" and they do not trust its outputs to be accurate. The local source mirrors retain exact line references for auditing.</p>
<p>It also benefited from a June 2026 scoping discussion with authors of related scenarios and Australian policy participants. Those workshop notes are private and are not included in the public source archive.</p>
<p>Thanks also to the authors of related scenarios and the Australian policy people who joined a June 2026 scoping discussion.</p>
<p><small><sup>*</sup> The Australian and New Zealand decisions and futures are extrapolations from the cited work. A citation means we used that source, not that its authors endorse this scenario.</small></p>
<p>The middle-power framing also draws on <a href="https://ai-2027.com">AI 2027</a>, <a href="https://europe2031.ai">Europe 2031</a>, Tom Davidson's <a href="https://newsletter.forethought.org/p/how-can-the-middle-powers-avoid-getting">middle-power plan</a>, Leicht and Ball's <a href="https://www.thefai.org/posts/the-race-worth-winning-middle-powers-in-the-age-of-machine-intelligence">The Race Worth Winning</a>, and Scott Alexander's <a href="https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/introducing-plan-a">Introducing Plan A</a>. Australian groundwork came from the <a href="https://e61.in">e61 Institute</a>, <a href="https://techpolicy.au/aiagency">Tech Policy Design Institute</a>, <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/data-centres-are-australias-chance-to-shape-ais-future/">ASPI</a>, and <a href="https://www.katechaney.com.au/making_technology_safe">Kate Chaney MP</a>.</p>
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# serve locally so relative links work (localhost:8080)
serve: build
uvx python -m http.server 8080
# rebuild and publish a clean snapshot to the public repo (keeps sources/ mirrors,
# never publishes docs/). Works without this repo being a git remote of the site.
deploy: build
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
D=$(mktemp -d)
git clone -q https://github.com/wassname/anz-2040-draft.git "$D"
for f in README.md justfile .gitignore .nojekyll global.css anz-2040.md index.html tree.svg; do cp "$f" "$D/"; done
cp scripts/build_html.py scripts/build_tree.py "$D/scripts/"
cp data/tree.json "$D/data/"
cp -r sources/ai2040-pages sources/resources "$D/sources/"
cd "$D"
git add README.md justfile .gitignore .nojekyll global.css anz-2040.md index.html tree.svg scripts data sources
git -c user.name=wassname -c user.email=claude@wassname.org commit -q -m "site update" \
&& git push -q && echo "deployed: https://wassname.github.io/anz-2040-draft/" \
|| echo "no changes to deploy"