A artificial intelligence could worsen the problem of income inequality, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in an annual letter to shareholders.
And while this isn’t a particularly new perspective, the solutions he proposes aren’t all that conventional.
In the letter, released this Monday (23), he stated that he believes that greater participation in the stock market and a reformulated social security program could be the answer to reducing this wealth disparity.
“When we talk about , most of the conversation revolves around jobs,” said Fink, whose asset management firm manages more than $14 trillion in client assets.
“This is an extremely important issue, which goes beyond the economy. Work provides income, purpose and dignity”, he continued.
But he stressed that, even if AI reduces demand for some jobsespecially entry-level ones in offices, there are still opportunities in the job market.
“In the short term, there are roles that we know are in clear demand and are well-paid: specialized professions, especially those that build the physical infrastructure of AI, such as data centers, power systems and electrical grids,” he said.
“For decades, many societies have associated success with a college degree and an office career. As technology reshapes parts of that landscape, we need a broader conversation about opportunity, dignity and the value of different types of work,” he analyzed.
Earlier this month, the BlackRock announced a $100 million initiative to expand the development of specialized technical professions over the next five years.
In the letter, Fink commented that Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, argued that “everyone should have the opportunity to earn well and that you don’t need a doctorate in computer science to do that.”
Need for broader investments
Fink also said that with AI disrupting society and the economy, it is even more crucial that a larger portion of the population has access to equity investments to avoid .
“The vast majority of wealth flowed to people who owned assets, not to those who made most of their money by working,” he wrote.
“People often want to invest in their own countries’ financial markets, but they don’t have the means,” he highlighted. Therefore, it is important to have broader investment opportunities for workers, he highlighted.
“History suggests that transformative technologies create enormous value — and much of that value accrues to the companies that develop and implement them, and to the investors who own them,” he said.
“There is a real risk that artificial intelligence could increase inequality if property does not expand in the same proportion”, he signaled.
Among the ideas he has supported is a proposal for a diversified government retirement investment fund to parallel rather than replace the current Social Security fund, with an initial investment of approximately $1.5 trillion.
“This wouldn’t mean privatizing Social Security or investing everything in the stock market,” he said. “It would mean introducing a degree of diversification.”
BlackRock is the world’s largest investment company, with most of its assets in retirement plans. These assets increased by US$698 billion in 2025 alone.
