The American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders. would create a federally-managed sovereign wealth fund composed of 50% equity in AI giants like OpenAI, xAI, and Anthropic, “AI is built on humanity’s collective knowledge. The wealth it generates must benefit humanity – not just Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and other AI oligarchs,” Sanders wrote in the New York Times. “That’s why I’ll be introducing the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act – to give the public a direct ownership stake.” “Let me repeat that: The foundation of AI is our collective human intelligence, our books, songs, artwork, journalism, computer code, scientific research, videos, conversations, images, and ideas spanning generations,” Sen. Sanders said. “The time has come to reclaim what was stolen from us.” “The question is not whether AI will change the world. It will,” he said. “The question is, who will own and control that future?” “This would guarantee that the trillions created by AI are used to improve the lives of all of us – and block oligarch decisions that harm the American people,” Sanders said. “Since AI is built on the collective knowledge of humanity, the wealth it generates must benefit humanity, not just Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and other billionaires, or the venture capitalists and Wall Street firms who see AI as the next great wealth-extracting machine.” “And that is why, in the coming weeks, I will introduce the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act,” he said. “This legislation would give the public a direct ownership stake in the largest AI companies in America through a one-time 50% tax, not on profits, but on stock.” “The billions, if not trillions, generated by this legislation would provide direct payments to the American people and help guarantee healthcare, education, and housing as human rights.” “When a public resource generates wealth, the public should share in that wealth,” Sanders said. “The future of AI must not be decided behind closed doors in Silicon Valley. It must not be dictated by billionaires seeking to maximize their power and profits. It must be decided by workers, parents, teachers, artists, scientists, communities, and the American people.”

BERNIE SANDERS: I probably don’t need to tell you that artificial intelligence will almost certainly be the most transformational technology in the history of the world. It will profoundly affect the lives of every man, woman, and child in our country and, in fact, throughout the world. It is already bringing significant changes to our economy, our democracy, our emotional well-being, our environment, and how we educate and raise our kids. There is also a very real fear that as AI becomes smarter than human beings, it could eventually function independent of human control, with potentially catastrophic consequences. The question is not whether AI will change the world. It will. The question is, who will own and control that future? Who will benefit from it, and who will be hurt by it? Will AI be used to make life better for working families? Will it help us eliminate poverty, extend life expectancies, and help us solve the climate crisis? Or will the future of humanity be determined by a handful of billionaires who have developed AI to become even richer and more powerful than they are? That is the fundamental choice before us. And let us be clear: AI was not created out of thin air. The foundation of AI is our collective human intelligence. Let me repeat that: The foundation of AI is our collective human intelligence, our books, songs, artwork, journalism, computer code, scientific research, videos, conversations, images, and ideas spanning generations. As Sam Altman himself acknowledged, AI models were trained on our collective experience, knowledge, and learnings of humanity, end quote. The reality is that big tech oligarchs have fed this knowledge into the AI models without permission, acknowledgment, or compensation. In other words, the creative work of millions and hundreds of millions of people has been stolen by the wealthiest people in the world. The time has come to reclaim what was stolen from us. Since AI is built on the collective knowledge of humanity, the wealth it generates must benefit humanity, not just Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and other billionaires, or the venture capitalists and Wall Street firms who see AI as the next great wealth-extracting machine. And that is why, in the coming weeks, I will introduce the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act. This legislation would give the public a direct ownership stake in the largest AI companies in America through a one-time 50% tax, not on profits, but on stock. It would do two extremely critical things. First, it would give the American people a direct role in determining the future of this technology. No longer would the future of AI be dictated by a handful of big tech oligarchs while the rest of the world sits back and watches them do what they want. Secondly, it would guarantee that the trillions potentially created by AI are used to improve the lives of all of us, not simply to make the richest people on Earth even richer. And I have to tell you, this is not an original idea. OpenAI has proposed creating a public wealth fund to give every citizen a stake in AI-driven economic growth. Anthropic has proposed national sovereign wealth funds with stakes in AI. Elon Musk has said direct federal payments are the best response to AI-driven unemployment. Over 100 sovereign wealth funds already exist worldwide. Norway used its oil wealth to create a $ 2 trillion public fund. Alaska created a sovereign wealth fund that has paid dividends directly to residents for decades. Every year, people in Alaska get a piece of the action from their oil revenue. Even President Trump has proposed establishing a United States sovereign wealth fund. The billions, if not trillions, generated by this legislation would provide direct payments to the American people and help guarantee healthcare, education, and housing as human rights. The principle is quite simple: When a public resource generates wealth, the public should share in that wealth. Artificial intelligence is being built on a public resource far more valuable than oil. It is the accumulated knowledge, creativity, and labor of all of humanity. Bottom line: The future of AI must not be decided behind closed doors in Silicon Valley. It must not be dictated by billionaires seeking to maximize their power and profits. It must be decided by workers, parents, teachers, artists, scientists, communities, and the American people. It is our future. We must decide it.

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