Sanders Introduces Bill for Sovereign Wealth Fund Financed by AI Company Stock Tax

Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the American A.I. Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would require companies with more than $200 million in annual AI-related receipts to transfer 50 percent of their stock to a new Treasury trust fund. The fund would be managed by a seven-member Independent Commission for Democratic AI whose members would be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Sanders estimates the fund could begin with roughly $7 trillion in assets and would distribute 5 percent of its value each year to Americans.

The bill states that AI systems were trained on books, music, journalism, code, art, photographs, scientific papers, and online conversations produced by millions of people. It also notes that federal agencies including the Office of Naval Research, DARPA, and the National Science Foundation supported early neural-network research and other advances that contributed to modern AI.

Sanders has said the fund could eventually pay every American roughly $1,000 a year and later direct resources toward health care, education, housing, and environmental goals. The legislation would require the commission to promote worker welfare, public safety, competition, environmental sustainability, and financial solvency.

The Trump administration previously took a 10 percent passive stake in Intel tied to federal support. The proposal would separate AI and non-AI businesses for tax purposes and would apply only to companies above the revenue threshold.