Argentina Proposes Law for AI-Run Companies, Sparking Debate on Human Workers' Future

The prospect of human workers being replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) technology is becoming increasingly evident. Technology giants are conducting mass layoffs in the name of efficiency due to AI adoption, or are focusing billions of dollars in investment to win the AI race. Argentine President Javier Milei recently announced a draft bill that paves the way for the establishment of companies run by artificial intelligence. The idea fuels the notion that companies could eventually operate entirely without human intervention. In an opinion piece for the Financial Times last June, Milei introduced the concept of non-human corporations, a type of company that can operate using AI agents or robots capable of making independent decisions in unpredictable environments. If the regulation is passed, Argentina would become the first country to have a specific legal category for AI-run companies, according to several legal experts. Milei also stated that Argentina is open for investment. ‘We are open for business,’ Milei said. The statement immediately drew criticism, including from Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari. He warned that granting too much authority to AI could reduce corporate accountability. However, corporate lawyers assess that the concept is not as drastic as the public imagines. The bill still requires a human administrator to oversee the operations of automated companies. Furthermore, the use of AI in decision-making does not absolve company directors of the responsibility to supervise the outcomes of those decisions. Lawrence Cunningham, Director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said that completely removing the human role is still a step too far. ‘The first step to completely eliminating the human role would be too extreme,’ he said. Even so, Cunningham still considered Milei’s proposal a bold move. ‘We are not changing the world entirely. We are just acknowledging that a business might be able to run without an HR division. This is the start of something,’ he said. One of the bill’s drafters and a law professor, Diego Duprat, said the concept of automated companies is already being applied in some business models, such as AI-powered cashierless supermarkets. The bill also stipulates that companies remain liable for losses caused by the AI or algorithmic systems they use. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Argentine presidential office confirmed that to date, no companies or investment commitments are directly linked to the bill. ‘What we are doing is proposing something innovative, with the aim of making Argentina an attractive jurisdiction for the establishment of automated companies,’ the representative said. ‘This project is key to creating better conditions for attracting investment,’ he continued. Milei has recently been aggressively promoting Argentina as a potential global AI development hub. He considers the Patagonia region to have ideal cold weather and energy supply for building data centres. Last October, OpenAI together with Sur Energy also announced plans to build a data centre in Argentina with an investment value of up to US$25 billion. Corporate lawyer Maria Gisele Cano believes that having rules specifically governing AI-based companies could be a unique attraction for investors. She admitted to having received more than a dozen inquiries from business players in Argentina and abroad regarding the proposal. ‘These companies will have a clearer and more predictable framework to run their operations in this environment,’ she said. Law professor from the University of Alabama, Yonathan Arbel, also assessed that Argentina has the opportunity to gain enormous benefits if it can create a business-friendly environment for AI. However, he suggested that the bill should also regulate digital identities for AI agents so that interactions with individuals and companies can be conducted more safely and clearly. The bill also accommodates the formation of blockchain-based Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). This model allows its members to vote using digital tokens. However, former President of Bitcoin Argentina Ricardo Mihura Estrada believes that the requirement for token user identification will be a major challenge for the blockchain industry, which has long been synonymous with anonymity. ‘I think the intention is good, but I see it will be difficult to implement in the blockchain world,’ he said. The Argentine government stressed that token user identification is a minimum security requirement. DAOs that wish to remain completely anonymous can still operate, but will not receive the legal benefits offered in the regulation.