Bernie Sanders wants to send every American a $1,000 check every year — funded by a 50% tax on AI companies. Trump may be on board

On June 18, Sanders introduced his American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act — a law that the Vermont senator’s office says would “give the public a direct ownership stake in the largest AI companies in America” via a one-time 50% tax on AI company stock. They estimate that the tax would raise about $7 trillion, a portion of which could be used for the $1,000 payments.

“We’ve got to make sure that AI works for everybody and the common good, not just to make the richest people in the world even richer and more powerful,” Sanders told NPR, adding his concerns about AI’s impact on everything from widespread job losses to decimated privacy rights and the negative impact on the mental health of children.

Moneywise reached out to several AI companies including OpenAI, Google and Meta for comment but didn’t hear back by press time.

Adding even more intrigue to the legislation, however, is the fact that recent comments from President Trump suggest that, while he and Sanders stand miles apart on political ideology, the White House could perhaps get on board with this plan.

How Sanders’ plan works, and why Trump could go for it

Sanders’ plan would levy the 50% tax on the stock of AI companies whose profits exceed $200 million in a year, depositing it into a sovereign fund managed by an Independent Commission for Democratic AI.

Seven Senate-approved and POTUS-appointed commissioners, each with an assigned area of expertise — from labor interests to national security and privacy, AI systems and management of wealth funds — would oversee the commission.

Sanders’ legislation would also require applicable companies to split their AI business from their non-AI businesses, so that the public can take part ownership of the AI side.

The Associated Press reported that Sanders said that taxpayers are “not going to lose any money,” under this deal, “even if there is a bust in the bubble.”

Meanwhile, some believe that this legislation is something that President Trump could get on board with.

In fact, at the beginning of June Trump told reporters that “there’s something very interesting” about the idea of giving taxpayers a stake in AI companies, “where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public. We’ll look into that.”

Trump also said he would meet with “the top 12 or 15 executives very ​shortly” to discuss “giving back” to the public, adding “if we do that, the public will become very rich, the people in our country, because that’s the kind of money we’re talking about.”

It’s unclear, however, what “giving back” would entail and if, or when, that meeting will take place.

Moneywise reached out to both Sen. Sanders and the White House for a comment on a potential partnership, but didn’t hear back by deadline.

The AP notes, however, that one of the nation’s leading AI companies, OpenAI, also suggested creating a “public wealth fund that provides every citizen — including those not invested in financial markets — with a stake in AI-driven economic growth,” while the CEO of Anthropic suggested a “universal basic income could be financed through taxes on relevant companies.”

And last year, the Trump administration bought a 10% stake in Intel, which Bernie Sanders supported.

“If microchip companies make a profit from the generous grants they receive from the federal government,” Sanders said at the time, “the taxpayers of America have a right to a reasonable return on that investment.”

What could get in the way of a deal

Sen. Sanders himself seems to have poured cold water on the idea of a partnership with Trump on the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act.

He told NPR that he hasn’t spoken to Trump about it and, when asked if the president could be a potential ally on the deal, responded, “I doubt it very much.”