In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.The bill, according to Sanders, was intended to stop the global race to see which country would “eliminate hundreds of millions of jobs” and be the first to “build an AI that destroys the planet.”
That didn’t work, so now Sanders has a new idea called the “AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act,” a one-time 50% “tax” on the equity of the major artificial intelligence companies such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. This, he contends, will allow American “workers” to share in the profits and create guardrails for the industry. Many conservatives seem interested in similar plans.
For starters, this “tax” is a euphemism for confiscation. As of this writing, 50% of equity in the top seven AI companies amounts to around $2.5 trillion. That number could go higher after OpenAI and Anthropic drop their initial public offerings, likely valued at over $1 trillion each. The seizure would be unprecedented.
In the age of populism, it’s probably quaint to ask under what constitutional authority Congress can unilaterally seize half of an entire industry. The takings clause requires “just compensation” for expropriated private property. Sanders offers none.
