An idea that until recently would have been seen as radical—that the public should co-own AI—now commands bipartisan consensus. 

In June, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the first AI tax in history, the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which took up our AI equity tax framework. The bill proposes making the biggest AI companies owe the public half the equity in each company’s AI business, paid in newly issued shares. 

In the weeks since, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and President Donald Trump have scrambled to compete, offering their own visions of an AI sovereign wealth fund, which, unlike a tax, would be voluntarily created through the companies’ partnership with the government. Specifically, the ChatGPT creator is reportedly considering giving the U.S. government a 5% stake in the company. We believe this approach is a mistake—and a tax is the solution. 

The essential nature of a tax is that it’s mandatory, which is why a tax is the best way to secure the public’s standing as a co-owner of AI. Plus, the public supports an AI equity tax. Last month, a national poll found 69% of Americans in favor of requiring the largest AI companies to transfer half their stock into a public sovereign wealth fund. 

The fight now is over the terms of public co-ownership: how much the public gets, who must deliver it, and whether delivery can be enforced. Altman and Trump are........

© Time