DeepMind economists publish 'An Economy of AI Agents' chapter rethinking firm boundaries and governance
soumitrashukla9 · x · 2026-09-06
DeepMind researchers Andrew Koh and Gillian Hadfield released their co-authored chapter 'An Economy of AI Agents', part of a larger collection. They note it was drafted in mid-2025 when the technology wasn't ready, forcing some 'sci-fi economics' — but powerful AI agents now exist and open questions abound.
The core provocation: what happens to the boundary of the firm when governance costs become AI alignment costs? They argue fundamental economic theory needs rethinking for an agent economy and list several unresolved questions, with a link to the full chapter.
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