Most American workers now say they want a government-run AI wealth fund just as tech layoffs are exploding, and Washington finally has a bill built to do exactly that.
Story Snapshot
- Senator Bernie Sanders proposes a $7 trillion American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund financed by a one-time 50 percent stock tax on major AI firms.
- A new survey shows roughly seven in ten U.S. workers back forcing big AI companies to hand half their equity to a public fund.
- The fund would pay every American about $1,000 a year and be run by a new Independent Commission for Democratic AI with real voting power in these companies.
- Support is high, but big questions remain about economic math, legal fights, and whether Congress will ever let it pass.
Workers facing AI job fears now want a direct stake
American workers see the headlines: record AI profits, record tech layoffs, and warnings that automation could erase tens of millions of jobs. A Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee report, cited by Sanders, estimates that artificial intelligence could replace nearly 100 million American jobs over the next decade.
When a Verasight poll found about 69 percent of Americans favor forcing big AI firms to give half their stock to a public fund, it captured that anxiety in one sharp number.
Support for a public AI wealth fund crosses familiar lines. Many Democrats see it as a way to soften the shock of automation. Many independents view it as a matter of basic fairness: if artificial intelligence depends on public data, public infrastructure, and public research, then the public should share in the upside.
What Sanders’ American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund would actually do
The American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act translates that public mood into an aggressive blueprint. The bill imposes a one-time 50 percent tax on the equity of the largest artificial intelligence companies, payable not in cash but in stock.
The tax applies once a company’s annual AI-related sales reach 200 million dollars or more, covering data centers, AI infrastructure, AI services, and advanced robotics. In simple terms, once an AI firm is large enough, half of its ownership is transferred to a national fund.
Those shares would sit inside a sovereign wealth fund that Sanders’ office projects could start around 7 trillion dollars in value at today’s market levels. The fund would pay out a five percent annual dividend.
Sanders argues that this could begin with direct payments of more than $ 1,000 a year to every person in America, and then gradually support healthcare, housing, education, and environmental programs. The proposal bans the use of the fund to bail out AI companies, so taxpayers would not be on the hook if valuations fall.
Majority of U.S. workers support an AI wealth fund as tech layoffs surge, survey finds https://t.co/dIKWDnHuGf
— CNBC (@CNBC) July 12, 2026
Who controls the fund and how far government power reaches
The bill does not just park the stock in a passive account. It creates a seven-member Independent Commission for Democratic AI to run the fund in “the public interest.”
Commissioners would be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, chosen from lists of bipartisan names provided by Congress. They would hold voting shares and could block company decisions they believe harm worker welfare, public safety, fair competition, or financial stability.
The legislation also forces structural separation inside large tech groups. Companies that run both AI and non-AI lines of business would have to split those units so the public stake applies only to AI, not cloud hosting, retail, or unrelated ventures.
The law sets strict rules for this split, including separate officers and directors for the AI entity and bans on cross-ownership. Critics on the right see this as a backdoor breakup of Big Tech. Supporters counter that it prevents hidden subsidies and keeps the public stake clean and focused on artificial intelligence.
Math gaps, legal fights, and political roadblocks
The plan’s scale raises hard questions that even many supporters want answered. Sanders cites a 7-trillion-dollar fund and a 5% payout, which equals 350 billion dollars a year.
That alone could fund about 1,000 dollars for each of roughly 335 million residents, but leaves a large sum beyond the headline checks. Some analysts argue the public deserves a clearer breakdown of how much would go to dividends versus new federal spending, and how those choices would change over time.
OpenAI: 69% of Americans Want the U.S. to Seize Half 😳🇺🇸 A Verasight poll found 69% of Americans support forcing big AI firms to hand the public a 50% stake, echoing Senator Bernie Sanders' proposed sovereign wealth fund bill. #AI #OpenAI pic.twitter.com/B5Mueh4JkK
— Zendoric-en (@Zendoricen) July 12, 2026
Legal and political hurdles are even bigger. Forcing a 50 percent equity transfer from private firms, not just publicly traded giants, invites court challenges over property rights and the Constitution. Wealth redistribution of this kind has very little precedent at the federal level.
Republican leaders already signal strong opposition to what they describe as nationalization by another name, and some moderate Democrats are quiet about co-sponsoring the bill. That silence matters in a Congress where even modest tech rules often stall.
Why the idea still matters even if the bill dies
The United States has talked about turning new forms of wealth into shared public assets for decades. Oil booms, social media waves, and now artificial intelligence have all sparked versions of this debate. Alaska’s Permanent Fund remains the only enduring American model, paying residents annual dividends from oil revenue.
Sanders’ AI proposal pushes the question much further: when a technology threatens to erase jobs at a historic scale, does simple taxation go far enough, or does the public deserve a direct ownership stake?
From this view, two instincts collide here. One is deep distrust of concentrated corporate power, especially in firms that control speech, data, and critical infrastructure. The other is an equally deep distrust of handing Washington sweeping ownership and voting rights in private enterprise.
The rising support among workers for an AI wealth fund signals that “let the market handle it” is no longer a satisfying answer. Even if this bill never becomes law, it is the warning shot. The public now expects a claim on the age of artificial intelligence, not just another pink slip.
Sources:
cnbc.com, sanders.senate.gov, meritalk.com
