Bernie Sanders Pushes For Public Ownership of AI to Counter Billionaire Control

Senator Bernie Sanders has spent decades championing sweeping reforms that seemed politically implausible. Now he's taking on artificial intelligence itself. In a detailed conversation with WIRED, the 84-year-old progressive outlined his vision for reining in the AI industry: a data center moratorium to slow development until safeguards exist, and an ambitious American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act that would tax large AI firms and distribute profits directly to everyday Americans.

The Wealth Concentration Problem#

What drives Sanders' urgency is straightforward: AI is being controlled by the planet's richest people—Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg—who have little interest in ordinary citizens' welfare. Sanders views this as intolerable given AI's potential to reshape every aspect of human life.

The proposed sovereign wealth fund rests on a principle of public ownership. Companies with $200 million or more in value would contribute half their AI-generated revenue gains to a public fund, with the public holding 50% of board seats. This would theoretically give ordinary people veto power over technologies that could trigger mass joblessness, threaten children's safety, or compromise privacy.

The underlying logic: AI's foundation is humanity's collective knowledge—books, poetry, scientific work—all extracted without compensation. The public deserves financial benefit from what it has created.

Congressional Paralysis and the Money Problem#

Sanders expressed alarm at the near-total absence of serious legislative action. Despite AI's potential to transform society, Congress has produced essentially no significant legislation. He doesn't blame stupidity; he blames fear and money.

When lawmakers openly discuss regulating AI, they face immediate retaliation: massive advertising campaigns from tech companies threatening their reelection. Super PACs and Citizens United donations shield the industry from accountability. Sanders sees this dynamic as the fundamental barrier to urgent action.

The Unknowable Stakes#

While acknowledging that technology always disrupts labor markets, Sanders pushed back against the assumption that new jobs will replace those lost. Autonomous vehicles, for example, already operate in Texas; if the technology spreads nationwide, what happens to 6–8 million truck drivers, cab drivers, and rideshare workers? They're unlikely to retrain as coders.