Renowned AI Expert Unveils Controversial Startup Aimed at Replacing Global Workforce

Every once in a while, a Silicon Valley startup comes along with a mission statement so outlandish that it's hard to tell if it's genuine or just poking fun at the industry. Enter Mechanize, a new venture led by renowned AI researcher Tamay Besiroglu, which has sparked quite the debate on X after its launch.

The backlash isn't just about the startup's ambitious goal—it's also about the perceived damage to the reputation of Epoch, the non-profit AI research organization founded by Besiroglu. The controversy was so intense that a director at Epoch quipped on X, "Yay just what I wanted for my bday: a comms crisis."

Mechanize was unveiled on Thursday with a post on X, where Besiroglu outlined the startup's aim: "the full automation of all work" and "the full automation of the economy." In essence, Mechanize is set on replacing every human worker with an AI agent bot, striving to provide the necessary data, evaluations, and digital environments to automate any job.

Besiroglu's vision of the market potential is staggering. He calculates that workers in the US earn around $18 trillion annually, and globally, this figure triples to about $60 trillion. However, he clarified to TechCrunch that their initial focus is on automating white-collar jobs, rather than manual labor which would require robotics.

The response from the public was sharp and often harsh. X user Anthony Aguirre expressed his disappointment, stating, "Huge respect for the founders’ work at Epoch, but sad to see this. The automation of most human labor is indeed a giant prize for companies, which is why many of the biggest companies on Earth are already pursuing it. I think it will be a huge loss for most humans."

But the controversy doesn't end with Mechanize's mission. Epoch, known for analyzing AI's economic impact and creating performance benchmarks, has faced scrutiny before. In December, it came to light that OpenAI had supported the creation of one of Epoch's AI benchmarks, which OpenAI later used to launch its o3 model. This raised questions about transparency and impartiality.

When Besiroglu announced Mechanize, X user Oliver Habryka commented, "Alas, this seems like approximate confirmation that Epoch research was directly feeding into frontier capability work, though I had hope that it wouldn’t literally come from you."

Mechanize boasts an impressive list of backers including Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Patrick Collison, Dwarkesh Patel, Jeff Dean, Sholto Douglas, and Marcus Abramovitch. Marcus Abramovitch, who confirmed his investment, praised the team, saying, "The team is exceptional across many dimensions and have thought deeper on AI than anyone I know."

Good for Humans, Too?

Despite the criticism, Besiroglu argues that automating all work could lead to unprecedented economic growth, benefiting humans through higher standards of living and new, unimaginable goods and services. He points to a paper he published on the subject, suggesting that automation could enrich society, not impoverish it.

However, this optimistic view raises concerns about the source of income if humans are no longer needed for jobs. Besiroglu suggests that human wages could increase as workers take on roles that complement AI, but he also admits that wages might decrease in some scenarios. He argues that economic well-being isn't just about wages, pointing to other income sources like rents, dividends, and government welfare.

While Besiroglu's vision is undoubtedly extreme, the technical challenge he aims to tackle is real. If each worker had a team of AI agents to boost productivity, economic abundance could indeed follow. Yet, he acknowledges that current AI agents are far from perfect—they're unreliable, struggle with task completion, and can't handle long-term planning without going astray.

Besiroglu isn't alone in this endeavor. Major companies like Salesforce, Microsoft, and OpenAI, along with numerous startups, are also working on similar agentic platforms and technologies.

Despite the controversy and the lofty goals, Mechanize is currently looking to hire new talent to join their mission.