Andrew Yang is calling on the U.S. government to impose a tax on artificial intelligence technologies rather than on human workers.
The proposal addresses the economic tension between rapid technological advancement and labor stability. If AI displaces a significant portion of the workforce, the resulting loss of income tax revenue could destabilize public funding and increase economic inequality.
Speaking on CNBC’s ‘Power Lunch’ program, Yang, the CEO of Noble Mobile and co-founder of the Forward Party, said the current fiscal approach to AI is contradictory. He said the government is currently subsidizing a technology that has the potential to replace millions of jobs [1].
Yang said that shifting the tax burden from labor to automation would create a more sustainable economic model. By taxing the technology itself, the government could offset the impact of job losses and potentially fund social safety nets for displaced workers.
This approach targets the systemic shift where capital—in the form of AI software and hardware—generates value that was previously produced by human employees. Yang said the current system effectively supports the tools that remove people from the economy.
The debate over AI taxation has grown as generative models integrate into professional sectors. While some argue that taxes would stifle innovation, Yang said the priority should be the protection of the workforce against rapid automation.
“Andrew Yang is calling on the U.S. government to impose a tax on artificial intelligence technologies.”
This proposal reflects a broader global debate on 'robot taxes' intended to slow the pace of automation or fund universal basic income. By targeting subsidies, Yang is highlighting a policy gap where public funds may be accelerating the obsolescence of the very taxpayers the government relies upon for revenue.
