Two leading progressives in the US Congress are calling for a tax on artificial intelligence to fund programs that would help prevent an economic catastrophe for workers displaced by the rapidly advancing technology.

In separate op-eds published Wednesday and Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) warned that AI risks turbocharging existing wealth and income inequality by driving up the fortunes of large companies and their executives, while hurling millions of workers into joblessness without an adequate safety net.

“Taxing AI is one way we make sure the winnings from AI benefit all Americans, rather than channeling them only to the wealthy few. If millions of people lose their jobs to AI, we’ll need the funds to deliver universal healthcare so those workers are not bankrupted by a visit to the doctor,” Warren wrote in TIME. “If AI transforms the future of work, we’ll need to invest in free education and apprenticeships and a new jobs guarantee so that all Americans have good-paying work. And while workers get back on their feet, we’ll need the revenue to bolster unemployment insurance to keep families afloat. The only way we can get there is by overhauling our tax code.”

Casar, chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, made the case for an “AI tax-funded jobs program” in an op-ed for The American Prospect, arguing the initiative “should draw inspiration from the New Deal-era Works Progress Administration, which employed millions of Americans.”

The Texas Democrat specifically proposed a tax on AI “tokens,” units of data that are processed by artificial intelligence models.

“Taxing AI directly ties the solution directly to the problem,” Casar wrote. “If AI use grows quickly, driving layoffs alongside it, the revenue from an AI tax would go up too. Unlike traditional corporate taxes, an AI tax like the one I am proposing works even if employers fire workers before AI companies show a profit.”

AI billionaires are threatening layoffs so big we hit Great Depression levels of unemployment.

You don’t have to take my word for it. They say it.

We must fight back.

I’m proposing a first step: taxing AI companies to pay for a jobs program that keep Americans employed.…
— Congressman Greg Casar (@RepCasar) May 28, 2026

The progressive lawmakers’ call for a new AI tax come amid mounting concerns, in the US and around the world, about burgeoning technology’s impact on workers whose jobs could be replaced by robots. Pope Leo XIV used his first encyclical to warn of the threat AI poses to employment, and prominent lawmakers such as US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have predicted “economic devastation for working people” if tech oligarchs get their way.

“Corporations are already using AI to cut jobs,” Sanders’ office noted in a recent report. “Amazon, Walmart, UnitedHealth Group, JPMorgan Chase,and other companies are openly telling investors that AI will allow them to slash payrolls—even as they post tens of billions in profits and reward CEOs with pay packages of $25 million, $35 million, or more.”

Warren and Casar argued that nightmare scenarios envisioned by AI critics and industry leaders alike are entirely preventable—but averting them would require bold and urgent legislative action that’s a longshot with President Donald Trump and Republicans in control the federal government.

“Congress should act now, and not wait to see if the worst-case scenario arrives,” wrote Casar. “AI companies are already pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into elections to try to shape what regulations get considered. We cannot wait for these companies to become even wealthier and more powerful.”

Warren called for “taxing AI companies directly,” including by imposing levies on AI data centers, which have drawn grassroots backlash across the country. The senator also pushed for broader action, including a wealth tax, to ensure that mega-rich beneficiaries of the AI boom don’t “pay lower tax rates than the workers they fire.”

“Here’s what I see clearly: If we overhaul our tax code and tax AI, we can use that money to build a country that works for everyone,” Warren wrote. “A country where healthcare is treated as a human right, where every American is guaranteed a good job, and where education isn’t a privilege reserved for the wealthy. That’s what I believe taxing AI promises.”

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