Key Takeaways
- • Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released text of the "American A.I. Sovereign Wealth Fund Act," which would impose a one-time tax, paid in stock, on AI companies with more than $200 million in annual sales, giving the federal government a 50 percent share in leading AI firms.
- • The fund would be overseen by a seven-member board appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and would authorize annual appropriations equal to 5 percent of the stocks' average market value.
- • Sanders estimated initial annual dividends of about $1,000 per person, though he acknowledged many AI firms are not currently profitable.
- • The bill is unlikely to become law under Republican control of Congress, but the concept has drawn interest from the White House and from some AI industry figures.
Summary
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has released the text of an as-yet unnumbered bill that would have the federal government take a 50 percent share in leading artificial intelligence companies, according to the publication's report on the newly released text. The legislation, titled the "American A.I. Sovereign Wealth Fund Act," would levy a one-time tax on AI companies with more than $200 million in annual sales, payable in stock. The resulting sovereign wealth fund would pay dividends to taxpayers and finance social priorities such as education, health care and housing.
Under the bill, the fund would be overseen by a seven-member board appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Sanders said the structure would make decisions accountable to the public and that board members could act to stop developments likely to cause widespread job loss. By establishing public control over voting shares, he argued, the bill would give "the American people the ability to prevent AI developments which will negatively impact their lives." The fund would authorize annual appropriations of 5 percent of the stocks' average market value, and the fund would not be permitted to sell the shares. Sanders estimated initial annual dividends at about $1,000 per person, while acknowledging that many AI firms are not currently profitable.
The bill would require companies with both AI and non-AI operations to implement "structural separation" so the tax applies only to AI businesses, and it includes provisions to prevent companies from moving offshore to avoid the tax. It would also ban using the fund to bail out AI companies. Sanders first previewed the proposal in a New York Times op-ed earlier in the month, when he had not specified a size threshold or governance details. He said he has not spoken with the White House about the bill but is in discussions with other senators.
The bill is unlikely to advance under Republican control of Congress. Still, the concept has some support. President Donald Trump said earlier this month he is meeting with AI companies "in the very near future" to discuss federal government stakes in the firms. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote that "fast economic growth should create the tax base for shared prosperity," and OpenAI, whose CEO Sam Altman recently met with Sanders, proposed a "public wealth fund" in its "Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age" plan released earlier this year. Sanders said he wants to go further than Altman's proposal, and argued that AI executives' ability to spend against political opponents in elections hinders those conversations.
Under the bill, the fund would be overseen by a seven-member board appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Sanders said the structure would make decisions accountable to the public and that board members could act to stop developments likely to cause widespread job loss. By establishing public control over voting shares, he argued, the bill would give "the American people the ability to prevent AI developments which will negatively impact their lives." The fund would authorize annual appropriations of 5 percent of the stocks' average market value, and the fund would not be permitted to sell the shares. Sanders estimated initial annual dividends at about $1,000 per person, while acknowledging that many AI firms are not currently profitable.
The bill would require companies with both AI and non-AI operations to implement "structural separation" so the tax applies only to AI businesses, and it includes provisions to prevent companies from moving offshore to avoid the tax. It would also ban using the fund to bail out AI companies. Sanders first previewed the proposal in a New York Times op-ed earlier in the month, when he had not specified a size threshold or governance details. He said he has not spoken with the White House about the bill but is in discussions with other senators.
The bill is unlikely to advance under Republican control of Congress. Still, the concept has some support. President Donald Trump said earlier this month he is meeting with AI companies "in the very near future" to discuss federal government stakes in the firms. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote that "fast economic growth should create the tax base for shared prosperity," and OpenAI, whose CEO Sam Altman recently met with Sanders, proposed a "public wealth fund" in its "Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age" plan released earlier this year. Sanders said he wants to go further than Altman's proposal, and argued that AI executives' ability to spend against political opponents in elections hinders those conversations.
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