The rich will get richer and the rest of us will be left behind because of AI, warns the billionaire who runs BlackRock

The ever-increasing development and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technology risks increasing inequality in the world, with only a small number of companies and investors likely to reap the financial benefits, said Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, quoted by The Guardian.

The head of the $14 trillion ($14 trillion) asset manager used his annual letter to investors published on Monday to highlight the potential risks of the exponential growth of artificial intelligence, which has attracted rapid investment and become, in his view, “central to strategic competition” between major global powers such as the US and China.

“The massive wealth created over the past few generations has largely gone to people who already owned financial assets,” wrote Fink, who has a fortune estimated by Forbes at $1.3 billion. “And now artificial intelligence risks repeating this pattern on an even larger scale,” he pointed out.

He warned that the artificial intelligence “boom” could accelerate a trend in which top companies accumulate more and more capital while others struggle to keep up.

Shares of AI-focused tech companies have seen significant gains in recent years, and market leader chip maker Nvidia is now valued at $4.3 trillion.

BlackRock boss says prosperity 'may seem further and further away' for those not benefiting from it

Fink said firms that have the data, infrastructure and funding to deploy artificial intelligence at scale “are positioned to benefit disproportionately.” This could end up widening the gap between rich and poor, he added.

“History suggests that transformative technologies create enormous value—and much of that value accrues to the companies that develop and deploy them, as well as the investors who own them,” Fink said.

“This is not unusual, and none of this is inherently problematic,” he added, noting that dominant directions have often shifted with technological transformations.

Still, “the larger question is who shares in the gains,” Fink cautioned. “When market capitalization rises but ownership remains concentrated, prosperity can seem increasingly distant to those outside that circle.”

Some analysts believe that the big AI companies are heading headfirst for a wall

“One thing is clear,” Fink added in his letter. “Artificial intelligence will create significant economic value. Ensuring that participation in this growth expands with it is both the challenge and the opportunity.”

The Guardian notes, however, that there are also growing concerns about a possible AI investment bubble, with some experts warning that the industry's rapid growth reflects the conditions that led to the bursting of the so-called “dotcom” bubble in the early 2000s.

The Bank of England, the London-based central bank, warned in October that there were growing risks of a “sudden correction” in global markets linked to the accelerating valuations of major AI technology companies.