First, AI companies came for the engineers.
Now they're coming for the economists.
Beyond hiring teams of economists, the big AI labs are increasingly trying to fund and collaborate with researchers.
OpenAI has an economic research team and has launched
an economic research exchange to collaborate with outside academics.
Anthropic is doing something similar.
All great news for economists keen to dig into the exclusive data that AI labs hold.
But it does raise a question.
Should we worry that to find out what AI is actually doing to our economy and society,
we have to ask an AI company?
This is The Economics Show with Samaya Keynes.
And this week, I want to explore the trend of economists working with or for AI companies,
including the potential for conflicts of interest.
AI could dramatically reshape our economies and societies.
It is incredibly important to ask and answer the right questions about this transition.
First, let's hear from Ara Karazian.
He is the lead economist at Ramp, a New York-based financial software company that tracks corporate spending.
He's got the substack where he shares insights based on the data that his company collects.
For example, the Ramp AI Index shows which AI models US businesses are buying.
In August, Anthropics lead over OpenAI increased.