Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ particular flavor of AI populism is more reverent at awed about the tech itself—and maybe a little more credulous—than many of his AI-skeptical fans would probably like. Nonetheless, a new poll shows that the broad strokes of his actual proposal for dealing with the economics of AI are overwhelmingly popular, at an astonishing 69% support.
His plan, called the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, is sorta like diet nationalization. In his own words, it goes like this:
“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.”
You’re the captain now, American taxpayer. You own Big AI. Let’s make sure it only does good things, and let’s all reap the rewards. Plus, even if the stock tanks, it’s not like we paid for it.
And if one poll is any indication, America is onboard. A June poll by the research firm Verasight says a plan that would “require” the big AI companies to transfer half of their stock to a sovereign wealth fund owned by the public was supported by over two thirds of respondents.
Interestingly, they polled with and without Bernie Sanders’ name in the question. There was a slight dip in overall support—down to 64%—when their question was phrased like this:
“Recently, Senator Bernie Sanders proposed legislation that would require artificial intelligence companies to transfer 50% of their stock to a fund owned by the American public. Do you support or oppose this proposal?”
But the percentage of respondents who said they “strongly” support the plan in that case actually increased by 3%.
In addition to the public receiving a share of the profits, by the way, Sanders’ proposal calls for the public to partially control the companies themselves. “The federal government would have the power, through its voting shares and an equal representation on each company’s board, to block decisions that hurt our citizens and to push for policies that help them,” he wrote in the New York Times.