Senator Sanders Proposes $7 Trillion AI Wealth Fund to Nationalize Half of US AI Industry
Less than a month after meeting OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, US Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bold bill aiming to nationalize half of the American artificial intelligence industry. The "National AI Wealth Fund Act" proposes a one-time 50 percent tax on shares of leading AI technology companies, transferring ownership to a government-managed wealth fund valued at approximately $7 trillion. The legislation targets companies generating over $200 million in gross revenue from data centers, computing infrastructure, AI services, and advanced robotics, directly affecting giants like Nvidia, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and startups such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
The fund would be overseen by a seven-member independent committee appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. This committee would hold voting rights to block corporate decisions harmful to workers, such as mass layoffs due to automation, and redirect AI profits for public benefit. Sanders envisions an annual 5 percent dividend from the fund’s earnings, enabling direct payments of about $1,000 per year to every American, with remaining funds supporting healthcare, education, and public housing.
The concept of sharing AI’s economic gains with the public is not unique to progressives; former President Trump and OpenAI’s Altman have expressed support for government stakes in tech firms. However, Sanders’ plan is more aggressive, involving direct government intervention in private company boards, which has drawn strong opposition from industry leaders like Microsoft President Brad Smith, who rejects government ownership.
The proposal frames data as a national resource, arguing that AI models were trained on collective human knowledge and thus companies have profited from a public asset. Critics warn that forced share issuance to fund the tax would dilute existing investors’ holdings and disrupt financial markets. Experts note the plan could shift US capitalism closer to China’s model, where the government holds controlling stakes in major tech firms to direct development.
In Israel, a similar debate over taxing national resources led to the creation of a sovereign wealth fund from natural gas revenues, though it focuses on long-term economic goals rather than direct citizen dividends. Despite its ambition, Sanders’ bill faces slim chances of passage amid political and legal challenges, including complex intellectual property issues and the rapidly evolving AI landscape that may render the proposal outdated by the time it could be enacted.
