Senator Bernie Sanders has proposed the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, a bill that would impose a one-time 50 percent tax on the stock of major AI companies to give the public voting rights and board representation. On All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg, Jason Calacanis broke down the proposal, noting that the tax targets "stock, not profits" of companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. Calacanis admitted that Sanders' argument that AI is built on our collective intelligence makes for "a great sales pitch" that will likely play well in future elections.
Other tech commentators are far less amused. On The Megyn Kelly Show, Mike Solana launched a blistering attack, calling Sanders "a genuinely evil person" and the face of communism. Solana argued that the real motivation behind the wealth tax is political power, asserting that "the real reason Bernie Sanders... is going after these companies" is to counter the influence of tech leaders. On Pivot, Kara Swisher agreed that the left is targeting tech, noting that Sanders is "wanting a chunk of companies like his and other, uh, like an OpenAI or whatever."
Yet, Sanders' populist economic message still finds defenders who see it as a powerful political tool. On another episode of The Megyn Kelly Show, comedian Andrew Schulz argued that the Senator's willingness to take risks is why he was so successful, pointing out that even working-class Republicans respected him for "calling out the billionaire class" and corporations. This sentiment is echoed on The Daily, where Noam Scheiber tracked how Sanders' 2016 campaign became the vehicle where "all these grievances start to coalesce into a mainstream political figure," eventually paving the way for other left-wing populists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Whether this AI wealth fund proposal gains legislative traction or simply serves as a talking point, it cements Sanders' role alongside figures like Hasan Piker as the standard-bearer for the populist wing of the Democratic party, a position that Charlie Sykes discussed on The Bulwark Podcast as part of a "therapy process" for centrist Democrats.