Key Takeaways
- • Bernie Sanders proposed a bill in June 2026 for a 50 per cent levy on AI companies, paid to the US government in shares, so citizens can share in AI-generated wealth.
- • Donald Trump expressed apparent enthusiasm for the idea in a June Oval Office appearance, planning a meeting with AI executives about "giving back something to the public."
- • Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has proposed handing 5 per cent of his company to a US sovereign wealth fund and suggested Anthropic, Meta and Google do the same, per the article.
- • The Magnificent Seven represent roughly a third of the S&P 500's value, up from just over a fifth in 2022, while the article questions whether AI revenues justify the scale of investment.
- • The article argues that a government stake in AI firms could create an incentive to avoid regulating them, and that any such fund may serve more as a way for AI companies to fend off regulation than as a benefit to Americans.
Summary
In June 2026, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders proposed a bill imposing a 50 per cent levy on AI companies, paid to the US government in shares. Sanders reasoned that because AI systems are built on the collective cultural output of creators, US citizens should share in the wealth generated. In an Oval Office appearance the same month, Donald Trump said he planned to meet with AI executives about "giving back something to the public," promising that "the public will become very rich."
The article traces the sovereign wealth fund concept from the mid-19th-century Texas fund for schools to Norway's Government Pension Fund Global, established in 1990 to invest petroleum revenues. That fund now manages well over $2 trillion, more than $390,000 per Norwegian citizen, and owns more than 2 per cent of European shares. Trump had already ordered the Treasury and Commerce departments in 2025 to draft plans for a wealth fund, and his government has taken stakes in Intel, Global Foundries, US Steel and several rare earths and quantum computing companies.
The article notes that the Magnificent Seven, each worth at least $1 trillion, make up roughly a third of the S&P 500, compared with just over a fifth in 2022. OpenAI and Anthropic may also reach $1 trillion valuations as they prepare to go public, though both have struggled to turn a profit. The article cites Anthropic's claim of a profitable second quarter in 2026, which industry watchers have met with skepticism. It also highlights Nvidia's $100bn investment in OpenAI, which committed to use those funds to buy Nvidia chips, as an example of a circular economy that complicates assessments of AI growth.
The article argues that a government holding large AI stakes could be disincentivized from regulating those companies, and cites Norway's continued oil and gas licensing as an example of this dynamic. It also questions what an AI-funded sovereign wealth fund would be for, noting that Alaska's Permanent Fund pays residents around $1,000 annually and that US workers earned almost $12 trillion in 2024. Its conclusion is that the proposal is unlikely to benefit Americans and may function as a means for AI companies to avoid regulation.
The article traces the sovereign wealth fund concept from the mid-19th-century Texas fund for schools to Norway's Government Pension Fund Global, established in 1990 to invest petroleum revenues. That fund now manages well over $2 trillion, more than $390,000 per Norwegian citizen, and owns more than 2 per cent of European shares. Trump had already ordered the Treasury and Commerce departments in 2025 to draft plans for a wealth fund, and his government has taken stakes in Intel, Global Foundries, US Steel and several rare earths and quantum computing companies.
The article notes that the Magnificent Seven, each worth at least $1 trillion, make up roughly a third of the S&P 500, compared with just over a fifth in 2022. OpenAI and Anthropic may also reach $1 trillion valuations as they prepare to go public, though both have struggled to turn a profit. The article cites Anthropic's claim of a profitable second quarter in 2026, which industry watchers have met with skepticism. It also highlights Nvidia's $100bn investment in OpenAI, which committed to use those funds to buy Nvidia chips, as an example of a circular economy that complicates assessments of AI growth.
The article argues that a government holding large AI stakes could be disincentivized from regulating those companies, and cites Norway's continued oil and gas licensing as an example of this dynamic. It also questions what an AI-funded sovereign wealth fund would be for, noting that Alaska's Permanent Fund pays residents around $1,000 annually and that US workers earned almost $12 trillion in 2024. Its conclusion is that the proposal is unlikely to benefit Americans and may function as a means for AI companies to avoid regulation.
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