Australian 40-year economic outlook recognizes ‘AI revolution,’ omits crypto

Treasury named AI among five major transitions expected to reshape Australia’s economy, while Coinbase says the report overlooks the digital financial infrastructure AI agents could eventually need.

Australia’s new 40-year economic outlook has identified artificial intelligence as one of five major transitions expected to have a profound effect on the economy, while leaving out any mention of crypto. 

The latest Intergenerational Report, published on Monday by the Australian Treasury, described agentic AI systems as having become “significantly” more capable, autonomous and widely used — surpassing human-level performance on some benchmarks. The other major transitions are geopolitical conflicts, an aging population, a shift to clean energy and Australia’s industrial transformation toward services.

“The Intergenerational Report makes it clear that Australia’s prosperity over the next 40 years will depend heavily on our ability to adopt new technology and lift productivity,” Coinbase Australia country director John O’Loghlen said in emailed comments. “And while the report focuses heavily on artificial intelligence, it completely misses the financial infrastructure those agents will need.”

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