Jack Dorsey, the billionaire chief executive officer of Twitter and Square - whose market value is pegged at over $7 billion - is donating $3 million to help free cash payment research for Americans, he disclosed on Thursday.

Dorsey is handing out the cash to Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, an organization of mayors who support universal basic income, including investing in pilot projects across the United States. Universal basic income is a program in which people are granted cash incentives by the government, irrespective of their job status.

Dorsey pointed out that the financial pledge was a tool to close the wealth and income divide. The concept of governments paying a basic income to its people has gained traction in response to the threat to employment from artificial intelligence.

The premise of a universal basic income is that each person in a country will be given cash payment at regular intervals, without any requirement to work or qualify for it.

On its official website, it is not made clear who will be granted cash payments but it mentions the need to tackle poverty, particularly in the face of an ongoing global health crisis.

The social media group has disclosed the pilot programs could benefit around 7 million Americans in cities like Atlanta, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Newark, Jackson, and Mississippi.

The organization said that giving people a guaranteed income could lift them out of poverty and help ease the pain brought about by the coronavirus pandemic on the economy and careers of people.

Dorsey, who has established a net worth of $7.5 billion, said he would allocate the $3 million from his not-for-profit venture into the amelioration program. In April, he made a widely publicized vow to give out $1 billion for coronavirus relief measures.

The billionaire stated that he would mainly set his focus on charitable efforts on pandemic relief, and also finance programs to enhance girl's health and education, including UBI studies.

Dorsey is making the donation from #startsmall, his philanthropic limited-liability firm, which he unveiled on April 7 by transferring $1 billion worth of Square stocks - then 28 percent of his net value - to the LLC.

Since its founding, the value of #startsmall has soared to $2.26 billion, courtesy of a 165 percent increase in the price of Square's stock. During the past few months, Dorsey donated $160 million to charitable institutions.

Dorsey said he never expected to be so rich and plans to give away all his money in his lifetime.