- Bernie Sanders presents the American proposal for a law on sovereign wealth funds in AI
- OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI and others may have to pay a one-time 50% tax (in shares)
- Trump is also exploring ways to distribute the wealth generated by the AI boom.
US Senator Bernie Sanders has revealed plans to introduce a US AI sovereign wealth fund law in a bid to allow US citizens to benefit from the success of AI companies.
Under the program, the public could gain direct ownership in America’s largest AI companies, as the proposal would impose a one-time tax, paid in stock, not cash, on large AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI.
Because Sanders argues that AI was built on society’s collective knowledge, culture, and research, he believes that economic gains should be widely shared rather than concentrated among a few leaders.
Sanders says public should benefit from AI successes
“Since AI relies on the collective knowledge of humanity, the wealth it generates must benefit humanity,” he added. “Not just Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison and other billionaires.”
The Sanders Act proposes that affected companies pay a one-time tax of 50% into the pot, which would directly benefit American citizens. But beyond the financial benefits, it would also give the public voting rights and influence over company decisions, making the American people part-owners of AI companies.
“This would ensure that the billions created by AI are used to improve the lives of all of us – and block decisions by oligarchs that harm the American people,” he said in an article unveiling the bill’s plans.
This proposal is timely, as public, governmental and organizational discussions are taking place around how the wealth generated by 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 — but not at the same 50% level that Sanders is proposing.
For now, this is just a proposal that would likely attract a lot of criticism over its impact on innovation.
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