Bernie Sanders Proposes AI Tax To Give Everyone $1,000 a Month. His Bill Would Do a Lot More Than That. |
Artificial Intelligence
Bernie Sanders Proposes AI Tax To Give Everyone $1,000 a Month. His Bill Would Do a Lot More Than That.
The Vermont senator's American A.I. Sovereign Wealth Fund Act would also create an entirely new regulatory regime for the tech industry.
Tosin Akintola | 6.19.2026 3:42 PM
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(Illustration: Elena Vizzoca/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom/Adani Samat/Midjourney)
When Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) teased his new AI bill in The New York Times, he undersold the socialist vision he had for the tech industry. Now that the bill text has been released, we know just how much government ownership of AI he wants.
On Thursday, Sanders unveiled the American A.I. Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would impose a 50 percent tax, paid through stock, on any AI company with annual "gross receipts" of at least $200 million. Taxing gross receipts rather than revenue is a savvy move by Sanders, since most businesses traditionally considered AI companies aren't yet profitable, and gross receipts allow him to include total money earned from all sources, widening the pool of companies subject to the tax.
Under the bill, the Treasury Department would also get a 50 percent stake in all applicable AI companies through newly issued shares, and the federal government would be allowed to tax any shares issued after the initial seizure, so the government's half........