Economist Anton Korinek — a member of Anthropic’s Economic Advisory Council and one of TIME’s 100 most influential figures in AI — has spent years modelling what transformative AI actually means for economies, wages, and the distribution of wealth. His conclusions are unambiguous, and they carry direct implications for how sophisticated investors should be positioning capital today.

The Structural Shift

For most of modern history, human labour has been the engine of economic value. That relationship is changing. Korinek’s modelling shows that as AI automates a rising share of economic tasks, wages initially rise — and then, past a critical threshold of automation, collapse. The value does not disappear. It redirects — entirely to the owners of capital.

His research is direct: “If left to market forces, the benefits of AGI would accrue primarily to those who own capital and control AI technologies.” Traditional tax systems, pension structures, and income models are all built on labour — a foundation that is being systematically eroded.

What This Means for Capital Allocation

The logical extension of Korinek’s thesis is a fundamental reallocation of portfolio strategy. Exposure to human-capital-dependent returns — wage-linked bonds, consumer discretionary, traditional service businesses — carries structural headwinds. Ownership of frontier AI infrastructure and the companies deploying it carries structural tailwinds.

The challenge for most investors is access. The companies at the centre of this transition — Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceX, Stripe — are not publicly listed. By the time they are, a significant proportion of the value creation will already have occurred. Public market investors will be buying the outcome, not the opportunity.

“Once the AI revolution really hits, there is no guarantee that we can earn a decent living based on the value of our labour anymore. We are going to need a new system of income distribution.”

Anton Korinek — Anthropic Economic Advisory Council, TIME100 AI 2025

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Where Exto Positions Investors

The Exto Global Technology Leaders Fund is designed precisely for this environment. Through the secondary market, we provide qualified investors with direct ownership positions in the companies most likely to define the AI capital stack — before public markets price in the full extent of what Korinek and others are describing.

These are not speculative bets. They are ownership stakes in proven, revenue-generating businesses operating at the frontier of a structural economic transition. The secondary market

provides entry at known valuations, with demonstrated track records and clear exit paths — the characteristics of disciplined capital deployment, not venture speculation.

Korinek’s thesis is not a prediction about the distant future. It is already underway. The investors who will benefit most are those who secure positions in AI capital ownership now — while access remains limited and pricing reflects today’s reality, not tomorrow’s.

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