Bernie Sanders Proposes Sovereign Wealth Fund Owning 50% of AI Companies
The proposal reframes AI profit distribution as a public resource issue, putting a government ownership stake at the center of the debate over who benefits from artificial intelligence.
Reporting from 1 sources: GIGAZINE.
Senator Bernie Sanders proposed the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act on June 1, 2026, which would have the U.S. government acquire 50% of the stocks of OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI companies through a uniform one-time tax. The fund would distribute profits from AI to the American people for healthcare, education, and housing.
Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act on June 1, 2026, in a New York Times op-ed. The bill would have the U.S. government acquire 50% of the stocks of OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI companies through a uniform one-time tax, establishing a new fund. Sanders argued that AI is built on humanity's accumulated knowledge and labor, a public resource, and that the profits should be shared broadly. The fund's returns would go toward direct payments to Americans and fund healthcare, education, and housing. Sanders noted that similar concepts have been proposed by scholars and some AI companies, and that sovereign wealth funds already exist in Norway and Alaska. President Donald Trump has also expressed interest in a government fund for large-scale investment in key industries.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.