Google DeepMind’s Alex Imas says AI agents may yield only 4% to 5% GDP growth

DeepMind's director of AGI economics argues that falling prices could cap how much an AI boom shows up in official growth numbers Millions of AI agents working around the clock sounds like the setup for an economic explosion. Alex Imas thinks the explosion may look more like a firm push. Imas, director of AGI economics at Google DeepMind, said in a November 7, 2026 appearance on the MTS podcast that widespread deployment of autonomous AI agents is likely to produce only a modest bump in annual GDP growth. His projection for developed economies: 4% to 5%. Why cheaper stuff means smaller GDP gains The core of Imas’s argument is about prices, not productivity. Automation makes goods and services cheaper to produce, and those savings tend to show up as lower prices for buyers. GDP measures the dollar value of what an economy produces. So when the cost of something collapses, its contribution to GDP can shrink even if people are getting far more of it. Imas points to agriculture as the historical proof. Farming’s share of GDP fell from roughly 40% to 2%, even as output surged. His point is that AI could follow the same script. Real output and overall welfare could rise substantially, wh...