- Bernie Sanders introduces US AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act proposal
- OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI and others may have to pay a one-time tax of 50% (in shares)
- Trump is also exploring ways to distribute wealth generated in the AI boom
US Senator Bernie Sanders has unveiled plans to introduce a US AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act in an effort to enable US citizens to benefit from the success of AI companies.
Under the scheme, the public could be awarded a direct stake in America’s biggest AI companies, as the proposal would impose a one-time tax on big AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI, paid in company shares and not cash.
Because Sanders argues that AI is built on society’s collective knowledge, culture and research, he believes that the economic gains should be widely shared rather than concentrated among just a few leaders.
Sanders says the public should benefit from AI successes
“Since AI is built on the collective knowledge of humanity, the wealth it generated must benefit humanity,” he added. “Not just Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison and other billionaires.”
Sanders’ Act proposes that affected companies pay a one-time 50% tax on the pool, which would directly benefit American citizens. But in addition to the economic benefits, it would also give the public a voice and influence over the company’s decisions, effectively making the American people co-owners of AI companies.
“This would guarantee that the trillions created by AI are used to improve life for all of us — and block oligarchic decisions that hurt the American people,” he said in an X post unveiling plans for the proposed law.
The proposal is timely, with public, governmental and organizational discussions all taking place around how the wealth generated from the AI boom should be distributed. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has already engaged in discussions with the Trump administration, and Trump recently talked about investing in AI giants at the government level — though not to the same 50% level that Sanders is proposing.
For now, this is nothing more than a proposal that would likely attract significant criticism over its impact on innovation.
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