Bernie Sanders Floats a Big Change for AI Giants

Bernie Sanders thinks the most powerful technology in history shouldn't be run like a private gold mine. In a New York Times opinion piece, the Vermont senator argues that artificial intelligence is built on "our collective experience"—books, music, research, conversations—yet the financial payoff is poised to flow to a small circle of tech executives and investors. He says that amounts to the unpaid appropriation of the creative work of millions and insists "it's time for us to reclaim it." Sanders' vehicle for that reclamation: the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, a bill he says he'll introduce soon.

Instead of taxing the profits of AI firms such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI, Sanders would require them to transfer 50% of their stock into a government-controlled sovereign wealth fund. That would give the public a direct ownership stake and board representation at the biggest AI companies. "The federal government would have the power, through its voting shares and an equal representation on each company's board, to block decisions that hurt our citizens and to push for policies that help them." The fund's gains would be used for direct cash payments and to bolster health care, housing, and education, modeled on sovereign wealth funds in places like Norway and Alaska. Read the full essay.