Silicon Valley has witnessed the birth of countless startups, each promising innovations to reshape the future, yet occasionally one emerges with a premise so provocative it is difficult to distinguish whether it is genuine ambition or merely satire. Such is the curious case of Mechanize, an audacious new venture founded by celebrated artificial intelligence researcher Tamay Besiroglu.
Besiroglu, renowned for creating the influential nonprofit AI research organization Epoch, recently unveiled Mechanize, an enterprise with the extraordinary aim of automating “all human labor,” ultimately envisioning the full automation of the global economy itself. According to Besiroglu, the startup intends to provide the necessary infrastructure—data, sophisticated AI evaluations, and realistic virtual environments—to enable robots and digital agents to replace human workers entirely, across nearly every conceivable professional field.
In revealing the enormous scale of Mechanize’s aspirations, Besiroglu pointed out the staggering magnitude of its potential market. He calculated the global yearly wages of all workers to be approximately $60 trillion, with American workers alone accounting for around $18 trillion of that total. Despite the expansive long-term goal, however, Besiroglu clarified to reporters that his company’s immediate focus is on white-collar tasks rather than manual labor, which would inherently require more complex robotic solutions.
Instant and widespread criticism of the concept erupted online, with many in the technology community troubled by Mechanize’s stated mission. Prominent voices expressed concern that the project represents precisely the hyper-extension of automation fears that have alarmed experts since AI’s rise. Anthony Aguirre was among those voicing disappointment, publicly stating that while he respects the founder’s previous contributions, the venture could represent a profound loss rather than progress, emphasizing that automation at this scale could negatively impact humanity at large rather than enriching it.
Compounding the controversy further is the close association revealed between Mechanize and Epoch, previously considered an impartial organization largely dedicated to evaluating AI technologies critically and transparently. Critics, including prominent industry figures such as Oliver Habryka, promptly raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, questioning the neutrality of Epoch given that its founder would now stand to profit directly from enhancing AI capabilities through Mechanize. Indeed, this is not the first instance of controversy surrounding Epoch, which previously drew scrutiny for initially downplaying its receipt of support from OpenAI on a major project.
Despite the criticism, Mechanize has garnered significant initial backing from an impressive roster of investors, including Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Patrick Collison, Dwarkesh Patel, Jeff Dean, Sholto Douglas, and Marcus Abramovitch, a partner at the crypto hedge fund AltX and self-declared effective altruist. Abramovitch, confirming his involvement, praised the exceptional capabilities of the founding team, suggesting they had thought through the implications of AI more thoroughly than anyone he has met in the field.
In response to the backlash, Besiroglu earnestly argues that his startup’s vision, rather than posing a threat to human livelihoods, may actually lift societal welfare dramatically through explosive economic growth, significantly improved standards of living, and the creation of innovative products and services currently unimaginable. He cites published research asserting that comprehensive automation could unlock unprecedented global abundance.
Yet skeptics remain unconvinced, observing that an entirely automated workforce could drastically reduce the purchasing power of unemployed workers, ultimately weakening consumer demand and the broader economy instead of bolstering it. Besiroglu attempts to address these concerns by explaining that economic well-being doesn’t rely solely on worker wages, and suggests people could rely instead on rents, dividends, and government-provided social welfare programs—assuming, of course, that AI-generated profits eventually translate into taxes that fund such programs.
While Besiroglu’s vision remains contentious and far from realized, the challenges he aims to tackle are real and pervasive. Today’s AI agents still frequently prove unreliable, struggle with complex tasks, and lack the ability to sustain coherent operations over extended periods. Mechanize acknowledges these significant limitations while proposing itself as one of the many players—alongside tech giants such as Salesforce, Microsoft, and OpenAI—actively working to enhance autonomy and reliability across digital assistant technology.
Regardless of the philosophical debates raised by its audacious goals, Mechanize is entering an already crowded arena of companies eager to capitalize on AI agent technology, spanning diverse specializations from sales automation to financial analysis. One thing is certain: Besiroglu’s contentious pursuit remains yet another signal that Silicon Valley will continue driving forward bold—and potentially disruptive—visions of the world to come.
For now, amid controversy and scrutiny, Mechanize continues pressing forward aggressively, and according to its founder, is actively recruiting.
