Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday announced he will soon introduce legislation that would give the American public “a direct ownership stake” in the largest artificial intelligence companies in the US by establishing a sovereign wealth fund, which would ensure everyone benefits from the rapidly advancing technology.

Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote in a New York Times op-ed that his American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act would create the new fund by imposing a one-time, 50% tax on the stock of OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI behemoths. The sovereign wealth fund, a government-owned investment vehicle, would both “give the public a direct role in determining the future of this technology” and “guarantee that the trillions of dollars potentially 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.”

The senator emphasized that “this is not an original idea,” noting that scholars and even leading AI companies have proposed some version of a public wealth fund to broadly distribute AI-related gains. Sanders also observed that Norway and Alaska have sovereign wealth funds, and that “even President [Donald] Trump, in an executive order, has proposed establishing an American sovereign wealth fund.”

“I recognize that for the government to have a major stake in a company, particularly one for which AI is only part of its business, is complicated,” Sanders wrote. “More details—including the specific spending priorities and the mechanics of implementation—will be included in the legislation I unveil in the coming weeks.”

“But the principle is simple: When a public resource generates wealth, the public should share in that wealth. AI is being built on a public resource far more valuable than oil: the accumulated knowledge, creativity, and labor of mankind,” he continued. “The future of AI and the fate of humanity must not be decided behind closed doors in Silicon Valley. It must not be dictated by billionaires seeking to maximize their power and profit. It must be decided by workers, parents, teachers, artists, scientists, communities and the American people. It’s our future. We must decide it.”

Sanders has been among the most prominent voices expressing grave concerns about the potential for AI to turbocharge inequality and spark catastrophic unemployment. Last year, Sanders’ office released a report warning that AI could eliminate nearly 100 million US jobs over the next decade.

“Corporations are already using AI to cut jobs. 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,” the report said.

Sanders’ call for an AI sovereign wealth fund comes days after a pair of progressive lawmakers—Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas)—separately called for new taxes on AI to fund jobs initiatives, universal healthcare, and other programs to prevent the kinds of large-scale economic displacement that experts and corporate executives say is looming.

“Taxing AI is one way we make sure the winnings from AI benefit all Americans, rather than channeling them only to the wealthy few," Warren wrote in TIME last week. “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.”

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