Virtual Agent Economies
Authors: name: Nenad Tomasev; name: Matija Franklin; name: Joel Z. Leibo; name: Julian Jacobs; name: William A. Cunningham; name: Iason Gabriel; name: Simon Osindero
Published: 2025-09-12 11:20:11

Abstract: The rapid adoption of autonomous AI agents is giving rise to a new economic
layer where agents transact and coordinate at scales and speeds beyond direct
human oversight. We propose the "sandbox economy" as a framework for analyzing
this emergent system, characterizing it along two key dimensions: its origins
(emergent vs. intentional) and its degree of separateness from the established
human economy (permeable vs. impermeable). Our current trajectory points toward
a spontaneous emergence of a vast and highly permeable AI agent economy,
presenting us with opportunities for an unprecedented degree of coordination as
well as significant challenges, including systemic economic risk and
exacerbated inequality. Here we discuss a number of possible design choices
that may lead to safely steerable AI agent markets. In particular, we consider
auction mechanisms for fair resource allocation and preference resolution, the
design of AI "mission economies" to coordinate around achieving collective
goals, and socio-technical infrastructure needed to ensure trust, safety, and
accountability. By doing this, we argue for the proactive design of steerable
agent markets to ensure the coming technological shift aligns with humanity's
long-term collective flourishing.