Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) has proposed a bill aimed at granting the American public ownership in the nation’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies.
Sanders, on Monday, has put forth the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act proposal. This proposed legislation would establish a federal fund, not filled with cash, but with stock, procured through a one-time equity transfer of 50% from AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI to the government.
The fund would hold voting shares and have equal board representation in each company, thereby having the power to veto decisions considered detrimental to the public.
He contends that AI, trained on the collective knowledge and labor of Americans, often without consent or compensation, should share its financial rewards with the public instead of concentrating wealth among AI leaders such as Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and others.
The fund’s revenue would be directly distributed to Americans as cash payments. As the fund expands, Sanders proposes that the proceeds could be used to support wider public goods, including healthcare, education, and housing. He points to Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend as successful examples of this idea.
