Bernie Sanders Wants Americans To Own Half Of Big AI Firms

Sen. Bernie Sanders said on June 1, 2026 in a New York Times op-ed that he will soon introduce the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, a proposal that would force OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI to hand over half their stock to the American public.

Sanders framed the AI plan as a way to give Americans a direct stake in companies building technology from humanity's shared knowledge. The stock tax has not become law, and the proposal faces steep odds in Congress, where Democrats currently sit in the minority in both chambers.

The plan would not simply tax company profits. Sanders would require major AI firms to transfer 50% of their stock, one time, into a government-controlled sovereign wealth fund. That fund would give the American public an ownership stake in the companies and representation on their boards.

Sanders specifically named OpenAI, Anthropic and Elon Musk's xAI in the proposal. His argument centers on the idea that the largest AI companies will benefit from data, labor, and knowledge created by the public, so the public should share in the upside.

The idea did not appear out of nowhere. In late December, academics Bearer-Friend and Polcz published an article in the Columbia Journal of Tax Law proposing an in-kind tax structure that would require firms with AI ownership to remit equity shares to the public.

Sanders has also made AI a bigger part of his agenda this year. On March 25, he and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced the AI Data Center Moratorium Act, which would pause AI development to address safety concerns. On April 16, Sanders held a news conference at the Hart Senate Office Building on AI's impact on workers.

His office has warned that AI could eliminate nearly 100 million U.S. jobs over the next decade. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has also pushed the broader issue, publishing a May 27 piece in Time titled "Why We Need to Tax AI."

Online reactions came fast, and they cut both ways. Some supporters saw the proposal as long overdue. One commenter on Sanders' Substack wrote, "Have the American people been consulted about our thoughts about AI? Feels like we are frogs in the proverbial pot of water, imperceptibly being heated to a boil until we're dead. No discussion ever, end of discussion really because of greedy moneyed folk."

But much of the reaction slammed the proposal as government overreach. One user quoted in Twitchy wrote, "Quickest way to destroy AI."

Another wrote, "Welcome to America, the land of opportunity. Here you can work hard, invent something, and once you're successful the government will take half and tax you on the other half."

A critic quoted in Digg's roundup of online reactions called it "economic illiteracy dressed as justice," arguing that seizing 50% of private AI firms through a tax would crush innovation and give power to bureaucrats. Greg Osuri wrote, "why not tax 100% and just nationalize them so we can go back to the stone age."

Still, the bill's immediate future looks uncertain at best. Democrats hold the minority in both houses of Congress, and Sanders' earlier AI Data Center Moratorium Act attracted no Senate cosponsors. Reporting on the proposal also notes limited near-term congressional support.

The timing matters. The proposal arrives as AI competition accelerates, with major tech companies expected to spend more than $750 billion on AI infrastructure this year. That scale has helped fuel calls from progressives to make sure AI wealth does not collect only at the top.