U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent of Vermont) formally introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act on June 18. This legislation would levy a one-time stock tax on large AI companies with annual AI revenues exceeding $200 million, equal to 50% of their equity. The seized equity would be placed into a federally managed sovereign wealth fund. According to Sanders’ estimates, based on current valuations, the fund would be worth around $7 trillion. The fund would be required to distribute 5% of its assets in dividends annually to every U.S. citizen, amounting to over $1,000 per person per year in cash payments. The fund would be overseen by an independent seven-person committee nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. This committee could use its voting power to oppose corporate actions deemed harmful to the interests of average Americans. In a media interview, Sanders said, “AI is built on human knowledge, built on the books, songs, artworks, news reports, computer code, and scientific research created by millions of people — and that body of work has largely been stolen by some of the wealthiest people in the world.”
The bill has resonated across party lines, though its sheer scale makes it one of the most radical proposals put forward. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has called for the creation of a sovereign wealth vehicle that broadly distributes AI gains to the public; Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has also expressed openness to a similar arrangement; and Donald Trump has publicly floated the idea of the government taking equity in AI companies. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reportedly supports the sovereign wealth fund approach, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent leans toward using AI company equity to fund Trump’s related policies. Sanders has drawn a clear line between his plan and these more moderate visions, characterizing his proposal as a “mandatory ownership restructuring” rather than a voluntary partnership. Analysts say the bill stands virtually no chance of passing under the current Congress, but its introduction marks a milestone: the question of how to distribute AI-generated wealth has moved from academic debate squarely into the legislative agenda.