Andrew Yang isn’t chasing the AI gold rush. He’s targeting something far less glamorous—cutting everyday expenses.

Yang’s latest move is Noble Mobile, a startup that pays users to use their phones less. It flips the usual telecom model on its head. Instead of charging for more data, it rewards customers for using less. Thousands have signed up, and the company is already profitable per user.

This approach is no accident. Yang warns that AI will hollow out entry-level jobs and squeeze wages. As automation gobbles up work, people will scramble to meet basic needs. Noble Mobile shows how startups can share profits directly with customers, easing financial pressure one bill at a time.

Yang’s idea builds on models like Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs, which sells medications at cost plus a small markup. Noble Mobile and others like Misfits Market and Light Phone aim to lower costs in housing, food, fuel, and wireless. They don’t extract value—they return it.

Investors, however, remain fixated on AI startups with fat margins. Yang recalls being told to “just make this an AI company” if he wanted funding. But he argues that the next big market is supporting consumers who will lose jobs and buying power to AI.

Yang also tackles the “attention economy” head-on. Noble Mobile encourages users to cut screen time, rewarding thriftiness with cash. It’s a rare startup that fights the addictive digital landscape by paying people to disconnect.

The labor disruption isn’t hypothetical anymore. Goldman Sachs estimates 16,000 U.S. jobs vanish monthly to AI, primarily entry-level roles. Universal Basic Income remains an ideal, but Yang doubts government action. Instead, he bets startups can bridge the gap, returning value directly to users.

Put simply: if consumers can’t afford basics, the entire economy suffers. Even the richest companies depend on buyers with spending power. Yang sees a growing opportunity for businesses that lower living costs, not just those that create new tech.

In a venture climate awash with billions for AI infrastructure, Yang’s thesis is a contrarian one. But the math is clear. Saving $50 a month on essentials, invested over decades, can build real wealth. Startups that share profits with customers might be the unsung heroes of the AI age.