JUNE 2, 2026

Bernie Sanders proposes a 50% stock tax on AI companies to fund a federal sovereign wealth fund

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) published a New York Times op-ed on Monday calling for the federal government to take a 50% equity stake in AI companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. The stake would be acquired through a one-time tax paid in company stock rather than cash and held in a newly created sovereign wealth fund. Sanders said he plans to introduce formal legislation within the coming weeks.

Sanders argued in his op-ed that artificial intelligence is built on "the accumulated knowledge, creativity and labor of mankind" — what he described as a public resource — and that the public therefore deserves a financial return as the technology expands. He called AI "the most transformational technology in the history of the world."

Under the proposed structure, a one-time 50% tax on companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI would be settled in stock rather than cash, giving the federal government half ownership and equal board representation at each firm. Sanders said that board presence would allow the government "to block decisions that hurt our citizens and to push for policies that help them."

The sovereign wealth fund would, in Sanders's description, initially generate "billions, if not trillions, of dollars" in direct payments to Americans. Over time, he said, the proceeds would be directed toward health care, education, and housing. Sanders also noted that executives at OpenAI and Anthropic have themselves floated wealth-fund concepts tied to AI profits, positioning his proposal as an extension of ideas already circulating in the industry.