U.S. — Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act in June 2024, proposing to transfer 50% of stock in large U.S. AI companies to a public sovereign wealth fund. The legislation would give the public a 50% stake in the largest AI companies in the U.S., redirecting a significant portion of AI-driven economic gains toward broader societal benefit.

"It would guarantee that the economic benefits generated by AI are used to improve the lives of all of us — not simply to make the richest people in the world even richer," Sanders said. He added, "The future of AI and the fate of humanity must not be decided behind closed doors in Silicon Valley by billionaires seeking to maximize their power and profit."

A survey of 1,690 adults conducted in June by Verasight found that 69% of Americans support requiring AI firms to transfer 50% of their stock to a public sovereign wealth fund. The proposal aligns with growing public interest in using sovereign wealth funds—state-owned investment vehicles—to manage the economic effects of emerging technologies.

Goldman Sachs Senior Global Economist Joseph Briggs estimates that more than 9% of the labor force, or around 15 million workers, could lose their jobs during a 10-year AI transition period. The Goldman Sachs report states that Briggs expects AI-related job losses to be temporary because AI will create many new jobs over the long term.

Windfall Trust research indicates that sovereign wealth funds can fund capital-intensive AI infrastructure, take equity stakes in AI companies, and capture a share of AI-driven economic gains for the public treasury. The research also notes a potential tension in such funds’ dual mandates: "There is also a tension between the financial mandate (maximize returns for citizens) and the strategic mandate (build national AI capacity, maintain influence over frontier systems), since these objectives can conflict when the best financial investment is a foreign AI company rather than a domestic one."

Why It Matters

The proposal enters a policy landscape shaped by rapid AI adoption and concerns over economic inequality. With nearly 7 in 10 Americans expressing support for public ownership stakes in AI firms, the bill reflects a shift toward treating AI not just as a private-sector innovation but as a national asset with broad societal implications.