OpenAI hires first chief economist

OpenAI hired its first-ever chief economist to examine the economic impacts of artificial intelligence (AI), the ChatGPT maker announced Tuesday. 

Aaron “Ronnie” Chatterji, a professor of business and public policy at Duke University, will take on the new role at the AI firm, leading research into how the technology could affect economic growth and job creation. 

“My career has focused on studying how innovation and entrepreneurship shape our economy and society, and I am excited to apply my skills to support OpenAI’s mission to ensure that the benefits of artificial intelligence are widely distributed,” Chatterji said in a statement. 

“I look forward to contributing to research that helps inform how we transition to an AI-driven economy,” he added. 

Chatterji previously held roles in both the Biden and Obama administrations.  

Under President Biden, he served as the White House CHIPS coordinator, overseeing implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act, and as acting deputy director of the White House National Economic Council. 

During the Obama administration, Chatterji was a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. 

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who serves as a board member at OpenAI, touted Chatterji’s “deep understanding of the dynamics that shape our economy and society” in a statement Tuesday. 

As companies rapidly develop AI models, many have raised concerns about what the technology could mean for the workforce. Industry leaders, like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have acknowledged that AI has the potential to make big changes to the job market.

“AI is going to eliminate a lot of current jobs, and there will be classes of jobs that totally go away. AI is also going to change the way a lot of current jobs function, and it’s going to create entirely new jobs,” Altman said at an event at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) last year.