The AI-Poverty Gap: Why US Tech Innovation Can’t Solve its Own $3-a-Day Crisis

The United States, a global leader in artificial intelligence and technology, possesses more than enough wealth and innovation to solve its domestic poverty crisis. Yet, over four million Americans still live on less than $3 a day, a crisis that has worsened due to wealth concentration.
This stark paradox is a product of political choices that prevent technology’s productivity gains from being widely distributed. Policies, including tax breaks for the richest and cuts to social safety nets, systematically direct national prosperity away from the working class.
The US approach contrasts with China’s successful, state-led elimination of extreme poverty. The resulting income gap in the US is so severe that the bottom 10% receive a smaller share of national income than low-income earners in numerous developing countries.