Bitwise CEO Draws Parallels Between AI Agents and Early Corporations

The rise of AI agents is reminiscent of the emergence of corporations around 200 years ago, according to Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley.

The more I think about AI Agents —

The more I think it perfectly parallels to the 19th century advent of the corporation: able to enter contracts itself, hire humans, own things, and outlive people.

Corporations were feared, and now number in the millions. We all work for them…

— Hunter Horsley (@HHorsley) December 30, 2024

“I increasingly think this perfectly mirrors the emergence of corporations in the 19th century: they could enter contracts, hire people, own property, and outlive individuals. Corporations were feared, and now there are millions. We work for them, and they produce everything we use and consume,” he wrote.

Horsley sees no reason why AI agents cannot play a similar role in the future.

“An interesting and very relevant observation,” commented one user.

However, he noted that the legal framework for large businesses took nearly 200 years to develop, starting with the first legislative act in 1844. This raises two questions:

• Is humanity ready to grant AI agents the same level of autonomy, and how will control be exercised?
• What will be the timeframe for establishing a stable regulatory framework (it took corporations ~150 years), which will herald the widespread adoption of the technology?

“I think it will be much faster and largely outside the legal framework,” Horsley predicted.

In the crypto market, the AI agent segment has become extremely popular. One of the sector leaders, the ai16z token (AI16Z), has surged nearly 160% in the past seven days.

Parodying the name of a renowned Silicon Valley venture firm, the project allows users to obtain capital for further trading on behalf of investors. The latter receive tokens that can be exchanged for the fund’s underlying assets or sold.

In December, ai16z developers announced a transformation of tokenomics and the potential launch of their own layer-one blockchain.

Earlier, an expert questioned the long-term popularity of AI agents, suggesting the technology has reached its limits.