Should AI firms hand over half their stock? Most Americans say yes
A proposal to transfer half the stock of the largest artificial intelligence companies to a publicly controlled fund has drawn widespread support from employees, with a new poll finding nearly 70% of Americans back the measure as workers grow increasingly sceptical of Big Tech's grip on the technology reshaping their jobs.
The findings, published by survey research firm Verasight, come weeks after Senator Bernie Sanders introduced legislation that would do exactly that.
Sanders' American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, tabled in June, would impose a one-time 50% tax on the stock of the country's biggest AI firms, depositing the equity into a sovereign wealth fund managed by an independent, bipartisan commission.
Verasight's poll of 1,690 nationally representative American adults found 69% in favour of the stock transfer proposal. Support barely wavered when the policy was explicitly linked to Sanders, dropping only to 64%.
"There is an undeniable desire among Americans of both parties for federal oversight, absolute transparency, and accountability to ensure AI safety and to enable all Americans to participate in the economic benefits of AI," said Ben Leff, CEO and co-founder of Verasight.
Lack of trust in corporate self-regulation
Demand for regulation extended well beyond the stock transfer proposal.
Some 89% of Verasight's respondents said AI companies should be required to publicly disclose the results of all internal safety testing. Another 81% backed giving the federal government authority to block the release of any AI system deemed risky.
Nearly half (49%) said the government, rather than tech companies, should have the final say on safety standards.
The results further point to a deeper lack of trust in corporate self-regulation.
Some 43% of respondents said regulations proposed by AI firms themselves are designed to benefit the companies rather than protect the public, while 30% said they trust the US government more than prominent AI developers to judge whether a model is safe for public deployment.
Sanders' AI Sovereign Wealth Fund
Sanders, in introducing his bill, argued that AI's foundations rest on publicly generated knowledge rather than the ingenuity of a handful of executives.
Under his proposed legislation, a 5% annual dividend from the fund could deliver a direct payment of more than US$1,000 to every American.
Sanders pointed to more than 100 existing sovereign wealth funds worldwide, from Norway to Alaska, as precedent, arguing the principle that ordinary people should benefit from national wealth is well established.
The legislation would also require large companies that operate both AI and non-AI businesses to separate those operations, ensuring the public receives an ownership stake in the AI side.
If those companies' valuations decline, Sanders' bill stipulates the losses would be borne by the companies, not the federal government.
"The future of AI and the fate of humanity must not be decided behind closed doors in Silicon Valley by billionaires seeking to maximise their power and profit," Sanders said.
"It must be decided by workers, parents, teachers, artists, scientists, communities, and the American people."
Global push for accountability
The push for public accountability over AI-generated wealth is not limited to the United States.
South Korean Deputy Prime Minister Bae Kyung-hoon previously said his country must ensure that wealth created by artificial intelligence benefits the wider public following labour tensions at Samsung Electronics.
"The benefits of AI must also go to the public," Bae told CNBC, adding that the country is focused on building an "AI-inclusive society — a society where no one is left behind in the AI era."
Bae made the remarks as he stressed that the AI era raised broader questions over how wealth generated by the technology should be distributed, whether it could worsen inequality, and whether it could lead to job losses.
"Recent labour-management conflicts can also be seen as part of this broader trend," he said.
He referred to the recent dispute at Samsung Electronics, where a planned 18-day strike by unionised workers was suspended after government officials intervened at the last minute.
Bae did not expect such industrial action to be a one-off event.
"In the age of AI, more of these super-large companies will continue to emerge. In that process, labour-management conflicts may continue to arise, and when they do, it will be important to resolve them wisely through dialogue," he said.
Unionised workers at Samsung recently voted in favour of a new wage deal granting them a special performance bonus, ending a months-long dispute. Under the agreement, employees of the company's chip-making Device Solutions division will receive a bonus funded with 10.5% of Samsung's operating profit, paid out in treasury shares.
It comes as Samsung's latest quarterly results revealed an operating profit of KRW57.2 trillion for the period of January to March, roughly eight times the figure for the same period a year ago, driven by surging demand for memory chips amid widespread AI adoption.
