Seize Half: Washington Targets AI Giants

Man speaking at podium with blue curtain background.

A new Bernie Sanders plan would let Washington seize half of leading AI companies and hand out $1,000 checks while locking in permanent government control over the tech of the future.

Story Snapshot

Sanders’ American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act would take a 50% stake in major AI firms through a one-time stock tax.
The federal government would control an estimated $7 trillion fund and send about $1,000 a year to every American from AI dividends.
A new seven-member federal commission would hold voting shares and power to block corporate decisions in key AI companies.
Big tech firms would be forced to split AI from non‑AI businesses, reshaping markets and raising serious liberty and innovation concerns.

Sanders’ Plan: A Massive Government Stake in AI

Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, a bill that would give the federal government a direct 50 percent ownership stake in the largest artificial intelligence companies in the country through a one-time tax paid in stock, not cash.^[7] Under the proposal, leading AI firms would be forced to hand over half their shares into a new national fund that Sanders’ office estimates could quickly be worth about $7 trillion at current market values.^[7] The law would apply to major players whose AI operations generate significant business, and it would not wait for these firms to be profitable. Instead, the tax is designed to bite based on the scale of their AI activity, ensuring that even fast-growing, not-yet-profitable tech companies would still be brought under Washington’s new ownership umbrella.^[1]

Sponsors of the bill say the idea is simple: when a “public asset” creates wealth, the public should own a big share of it.^[1] Sanders argues that AI is built on the collective data, work, and knowledge of ordinary people, so the government should step in and capture that value on their behalf through stock rather than traditional income or profit taxes.^[1] His approach goes far beyond normal regulation or corporate taxation, because it hardwires the federal government as a permanent co-owner of America’s top AI firms. Over time, the bill would even let Washington tax newly issued shares so that its stake never falls below half, making the 50 percent public ownership effectively permanent as these companies grow.^[1]

$1,000 Checks Today, Sweeping Control Tomorrow

To sell the plan, Sanders highlights the promise of annual cash payments to every “man, woman, and child” in the United States, funded by AI wealth.^[1] His office says that a five percent yearly dividend taken from the value of the sovereign wealth fund could send checks of around $1,000 to every American, turning AI stocks into a nationwide allowance.^[3] Supporters frame this as a way to help families keep up as automation and advanced software threaten jobs, echoing earlier Sanders ideas about using technology taxes to soften the blow of job losses from machines and robots.^[6] That pitch will sound appealing to many people who are already worried that their work could be replaced by algorithms or robots in the coming years.

But behind the promise of $1,000 a year sits a much larger and more lasting shift in who controls the commanding heights of the digital economy. The bill would create an Independent Commission for Democratic AI, a seven-person board nominated by the President from lists drawn up by Congress and confirmed by the Senate, to manage the fund “in the public interest” and use its voting shares to shape or block corporate decisions it views as harmful.^[7] This commission would sit on the boards of the covered AI companies, wielding direct influence over their strategies, product choices, and long-term direction.^[6] That means political appointees, not engineers and entrepreneurs, would gain a powerful say over how key AI systems are developed, deployed, and governed across the economy.^[6]

Forced Breakups, Market Disruption, and Conservative Concerns

The Sanders proposal would not stop at ownership and dividends; it would also order major technology companies that run both AI and non‑AI businesses to split those operations apart so the government’s equity applies cleanly to the AI side.^[7] This could affect giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Nvidia, and companies connected to Elon Musk, by forcing legal and structural breakups between their AI activities and the rest of their work.^[3] Backers claim this is needed to ensure the public gets a pure stake in AI, but critics warn that such forced separations could disrupt efficient, integrated tech ecosystems that now link hardware, cloud services, software, and AI models into single platforms.^[6] For many conservatives, that looks less like consumer protection and more like Washington micromanaging how private firms are allowed to organize and compete.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is proposing a major new tax on leading AI companies that would help create a government-run sovereign wealth fund.

Under the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, major AI companies would pay a one-time tax equal to 50% of their stock into a federally… pic.twitter.com/SiGcZTafbJ

— Benzinga (@Benzinga) June 19, 2026

Property rights and political neutrality also sit at the heart of the pushback. The core mechanism of the bill is a compulsory transfer of half a company’s stock to the government, framed as a “one-time tax,” yet functionally operating as a large, one-sided equity grab by federal officials.^[4] The new commission would have formal power to block business moves it decides are bad for workers or the public, which raises the risk of decisions driven by ideology, election cycles, or activist pressure rather than by innovation, security, and consumer demand.^[7] While Sanders and other progressives see the plan as a way to curb “big tech oligarchs,” many on the right see something more troubling: a model where Washington uses AI as the excuse to extend its reach into boardrooms, capital markets, and, ultimately, the livelihoods and freedoms of ordinary Americans for generations to come.^[13]