Bernie Sanders AI sovereign wealth fund bill 2026

Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced authorities Thursday that would springiness the American nationalist a nonstop 50% ownership involvement successful the country's largest artificial quality companies done a one-time taxation connected their stock.

Under the legislation, firms crossing the $200 cardinal yearly AI gross threshold would beryllium required to manus implicit fractional their shares to a caller federally managed fund, The Associated Press reported, with Sanders pegging the full worth of the resulting money astatine astir $7 trillion.

Oversight of the money would autumn to an independent, seven-person committee whose members would spell done statesmanlike information and Senate confirmation; that assemblage would wield the fund's voting shares to propulsion backmost against firm actions seen arsenic harmful to mean Americans, according to the senator. Every American would person nonstop payments exceeding $1,000 annually, Sanders projects, drawn from a 5% dividend the money would beryllium required to distribute. Companies entering the AI assemblage and aboriginal hitting that gross people would look the aforesaid equity transportation requirement.

"The benefits cannot simply spell to the fistful of affluent corporations. They volition beryllium shared by the American people," Sanders said.

The measure would besides necessitate ample companies that run some AI and non-AI businesses to abstracted those operations, ensuring the nationalist receives an ownership involvement successful the AI portion, Sanders said. He argued that if AI institution valuations fall, the companies — not the national authorities — would carnivore the losses.

The thought of authorities taking a involvement successful AI companies has drawn involvement from figures crossed the governmental spectrum, though Sanders' connection goes further than most. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has called for establishing a nationalist wealthiness conveyance to administer AI gains broadly crossed the citizenry, portion Anthropic's Dario Amodei has signaled openness to comparable arrangements, having written that taxes connected AI companies could money cosmopolitan basal income. Trump, too, has floated the conception of the authorities holding a presumption successful AI developers, remarking publically that the conception resembles a benignant of concern with the American people.

Distancing his authorities from those softer approaches, Sanders drew a crisp opposition successful remarks to the AP. "I deliberation radical similar Sam Altman and Trump whitethorn beryllium sympathetic to this are saying: 'Okay, look, we're making zillions of dollars truthful we're going to beryllium bully guys and possibly we'll bargain disconnected the public,'" helium said. "That's not what we're talking about."