I like this plan. One of the biggest problems with these powerful companies is that their leaders are making decisions that affect everybody but they only have their own interest in mind when they do it. Having a say on behalf of the people is a great idea to balance things. Also, all these companies are adverse to paying any taxes so having a financial stake by the people, where everybody benefits, is a definite plus. Lastly, financial assets equals power which means the company owners are gaining power by the dollar. Democracy does not function when power is concentrated in a few people. The plan is unlikely to come to fruition but it sure would be nice if it did.
" would create a sovereign wealth fund overseen by an independent commission and financed through a one-time 50% tax
on the stock of the largest AI companies. "
Interesting proposal.
This is similar to the US President's strategy of forcibly taking stakes in various companies.
Is he also proposing that the public carry the losses of AI companies that fail?
So buying out the early investors and dumping the overvalued stock on retail and pension funds to hold the bag.
It’s a tax. So the government wouldn’t be buying anything. OpenAI (for example) would need to issue 100% new shares and give them to the government to hold in this new sovereign wealth fund. This the new sovereign wealth fund holds 50% of the company.
I don’t know how you decide what companies are targeted though. OpenAI/Anthropic are pure AI plays. But what about an AMZN or AAPL that have AI as only a part of their business.
How about the tax on AI Tokens goes toward Basic Income for those who lost their jobs?
So… what’s the difference between Trump’s plan and Bernie’s plan? (It just feels right to say it like that, doesn’t it?)