Hi all,

Three years ago, I asked you to sign a petition asking for monthly disaster relief payments to support Maui fire survivors. Five thousand of you joined. Thank you.

The Maui recovery is still going. Over 800 families remain in FEMA temporary housing this year. Hundreds of homes are still unbuilt. The point of the petition still stands: when disaster reshapes someone's life, a one-time check doesn't fix it.

I'm writing because the same argument applies to a different disaster — one that hasn't fully hit yet but is on its way.

AI is now displacing workers at a pace that bankers, economists, and the people building the technology are calling unprecedented. Anthropic's CEO recently warned AI could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. A senior Citi banker just said no response would mean a tragic end to capitalism and democracy. The smartest people in tech are saying the same thing UBI advocates have said for years: this isn't going to be a fire we can throw a bucket of water at.

I just launched the AI Pledge for Humanity. It's a public commitment to direct a share of AI-generated gains toward universal basic income — a permanent floor, before the disaster fully hits. Andrew Yang, Andrew Stern, Dustin Moskovitz, Martin Ford, Guy Standing, and Thor Halvorssen have signed. The list is growing fast.

The principle is the same as the Maui petition: don't wait for people to drown before throwing the rope.

Add your name: aipledgeforhumanity.org 

And if you know someone else who'd care, please share.

Thank you for showing up before. I'm asking you to show up again.

— Scott Santens