Americans are hanging on by their fingernails in an economy that funnels wealth to the ultra-rich and leaves crumbs for working people. AI threatens to supercharge this divide: tech executives have warned that AI could lead to “a level of wealth concentration that will break society” and create a “permanent underclass.” 

I refuse to accept that future. Building an economy that works for all of us will require multiple policy responses. But it starts by acknowledging: it’s time to tax AI and invest in people.  

AI holds tremendous promise. At the same time, Americans are rightly concerned that AI could further rig our economy. The technology is creating dozens of tech billionaires, while companies are laying off workers in the name of AI. Meanwhile, AI data centers are jacking up utility bills; for families living near large data centers, electricity costs have skyrocketed by as much as 267% over the past five years. It’s no surprise that Americans are showing up at town meetings to protest data centers and communities across the country are fighting for data center moratoriums. 

Big Tech CEOs say this is only the beginning, predicting that AI will soon automate most white-collar tasks. Yes, some of this may be hyperbole. But there is no denying that AI is already changing the labor market. And........

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