Senator Bernie Sanders wants to hit the biggest AI companies with a one-time 50% tax on their stock, using the proceeds to build a sovereign wealth fund worth nearly $7 trillion. The American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, introduced this week, would apply to any company with at least $200 million in annual AI sales. Sanders says the fund could eventually send every American an annual dividend of more than $1,000.
How the tax would work
The bill imposes a 50% levy on the stock of AI companies that meet the revenue threshold. That money would seed a fund managed by an independent seven-person commission, confirmed by the Senate. Sanders hasn't specified which companies would be affected, but the tax would target the massive market caps of firms like those behind the current AI boom. His office estimates the fund could grow to close to $7 trillion.
Coinciding with California's wealth tax push
The same week Sanders dropped his bill, the California Billionaire Tax Act secured enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. That measure originally proposed a 5% annual wealth tax on billionaires. The Billionaire Tax Now Coalition has since offered to support a reduced 2% rate. The two efforts — federal and state — signal a growing appetite for taxing extreme wealth.
Elon Musk's trillionaire milestone
The push comes just days after Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire on June 12, following SpaceX's record $75 billion IPO. Forbes data shows the gap between the average billionaire and the average American now stands at 1,475,186%. Sanders, along with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Pramila Jayapal, has revived calls for a wealth tax at the federal level. The new AI fund bill is their latest attempt to redirect concentrated tech wealth toward public dividends.
The measure faces long odds in a divided Congress, but the California ballot initiative could force the issue this fall. If it passes, the state would become the first in the nation to tax billionaires annually.
