The legislation would impose a one-time 50% stock tax on the largest AI companies to fund direct payments to every American
Senator Bernie Sanders wants AI companies to share the wealth. Literally.
The independent senator from Vermont introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act on June 18, proposing a one-time 50% tax, paid in stock, on the largest US AI companies. The goal: build a sovereign wealth fund worth approximately $7 trillion that would send every American more than $1,000 per year.
How the fund would work #
The government would collect equity stakes from top AI firms, pooling them into a massive public fund. That fund would then distribute a mandated 5% annual dividend directly to Americans.
At a projected fund size of roughly $7 trillion, the math pencils out to initial payouts exceeding $1,000 per person annually. Any revenue beyond the direct payments would flow into public programs covering healthcare, education, and housing.
Alaska has been cutting checks to residents from its petroleum wealth since 1982, and Sanders is essentially arguing that AI represents a similarly transformative resource that the public deserves a stake in.
The “paid in stock” detail matters. Rather than demanding cash that companies might not have on hand, the legislation would take equity. The US government would become a major shareholder in the country’s most valuable AI companies, creating a publicly owned portfolio of tech stocks on a scale never before attempted.
Sanders’ broader AI agenda #
This isn’t Sanders’ first swing at the AI industry in 2026. Back in March, he co-introduced the AI Data Center Moratorium Act, which sought to expansion of AI data centers until regulatory safeguards were put in place. That bill framed AI infrastructure as an environmental and regulatory concern. This new legislation reframes it as an ownership question.
What this means for investors #
A 50% stock tax on the largest AI companies would be unprecedented in modern American corporate history. If something resembling this legislation ever reached a president’s desk, it would fundamentally reshape how investors value the entire AI sector.
The immediate concern for shareholders is dilution. If the government suddenly holds half the equity in major AI firms, existing shareholders’ stakes get cut in half overnight.
The chances of this bill passing in its current form are slim. Major legislation proposing a multi-trillion-dollar wealth transfer from the private sector to a public fund faces obvious political headwinds.
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