Sam Altman is back with plans to let Americans share in OpenAI's wealth: each family would get a $300 stake. Meanwhile, the US Treasury warns that AI could upend the economy, creating winners and losers. Reported by MIT Technology Review, the idea sounds like a promise of fairness in a sector dominated by a few giants.
Why does this matter to us? Because while the discussion is about distributing crumbs to 330 million US citizens, Europe — and Italy especially — isn't even at the table. Our SMEs, our developers, our digital artisans get nothing. AI infrastructure remains firmly in US Big Tech's hands. Altman talks about participation, but control over data, models, and servers stays centralized. The Treasury itself acknowledges the risks of concentration and job displacement: a prophecy that could hit Italy hard if we stay passive.
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We, at Meteora Web, see it this way:
Altman's proposal is a smokescreen. $300 per person is the price of a yearly ChatGPT subscription. It's not a redistribution plan; it's a PR move to buy political goodwill. Meanwhile, OpenAI keeps 100% of the value generated from user data. As digital entrepreneurs who have worked with real balance sheets, we know that real wealth isn't created by philanthropy but by controlling the supply chain. If Europe doesn't build its own AI stack — open models, sovereign cloud infrastructure, clear rules — it will remain a digital colony. Our companies in Southern Italy deserve first-class tools, not transatlantic handouts.
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What to do? Italian entrepreneurs and developers: stop waiting for OpenAI's crumbs. Invest in open-source AI solutions, demand transparency on the models you use, insist your data stays in Europe. For policymakers: don't be fooled by Big Tech promises. Create a European fund for AI applied to SMEs, mandate data portability, fund training. The future of AI is being decided now. If Europe doesn't take a stand, it has already lost.
