Breaking

Sanders Proposes $7 Trillion Fund Via 50% Tax on AI Firms' Stock

July 5, 2026 at 09:33 EDT

Policy & Regulation
Infra & Chips

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced a bill that would impose a one-time 50% tax on the stock of companies earning more than $200 million a year from AI, creating an estimated $7 trillion "AI sovereign wealth fund." The fund would make direct payments to US citizens, aiming to return AI's gains to the public.

June 2026 · U.S. Senate

Sanders Moves to Freeze AI Data Centers — and Seize a Stake in Big Tech

Casting AI as "the most consequential and transformational technology in human history," Sen. Bernie Sanders has introduced two bills: one halting new AI data center construction, and one creating a $7 trillion public fund seeded with equity taken from major AI companies.

$7T

Target size of the proposed public sovereign wealth fund

50%

One-time levy on covered firms' shares — plus 50% of board seats to public reps

~$1,000

Initial annual citizen dividend per person

BILL 1 · MARCH 2026 · SANDERS + AOC

AI Data Center Moratorium Act

Measure: Immediate freeze on new data center construction
Until: Safeguards on safety, jobs & power bills are set
Governance: Government reviews of AI products

BILL 2 · JUNE 2026 · SANDERS SOLO

AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act

Measure: 50% levy of shares → public fund
Scope: Firms over $200M annual gross receipts
Governance: Public reps hold 50% of boards

Who owns a covered AI company under the Fund Act?

Half the equity and half the board would shift to the public.

50%

Private owners

50%

Public fund

The drive: preventing a Big Tech oligarchy from capturing AI's gains.

Surging power demand Local environmental strain Large-scale job losses Deepfakes & privacy Harms to children

SUPPORTERS

Treat AI as a public resource — prevent billionaire monopoly and deliver a citizen dividend, aligned with anti-data-center and progressive movements.

CRITICS

A "death sentence for American technology leadership" — distorting markets, stifling innovation, ceding the lead to China, and risking government control.

Neither bill has a clear path to passage — but together they force the question of who benefits from AI's gains to the center of the regulatory debate.

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