Should We Give AIs a Wallet? Toward a Framework for AI Economic Rights
Mathieu Duteil, Elsa Donnat, Spencer Jury, Stephanie Koay, Margo Bergman, Anita Srinivasan
Mentored by Larissa Schiavo, Toni Sims, Jeff Sebo
Working report from the SPAR program. May not reflect the authors' current views.
Abstract
As AI agents increasingly transact, hold digital assets, and enter into economic relationships, existing legal and regulatory frameworks face a growing mismatch. This report presents the findings of a SPAR S26 fellowship investigating whether and how AI systems might be granted meaningful economic agency. Six fellows each explored a distinct facet of the problem—legal treatment, token governance, philosophical foundations, technical infrastructure, regulatory design, and computational modeling—producing individual research memos over the course of the semester. This report summarizes each fellow’s contributions and identifies common themes, open questions, and areas of convergence across their work.