Andrew Yang is calling on the U.S. government to tax artificial intelligence technologies instead of taxing human workers [1, 2].
The proposal addresses the growing economic tension between rapid technological advancement and workforce stability. As AI capabilities expand, the source of national tax revenue may need to shift from labor to the machines that perform the work.
Yang, the co-founder of the Forward Party and CEO of Noble Mobile, said the U.S. is currently subsidizing a technology that will replace millions of jobs [2]. He said this displacement creates a fundamental imbalance in how the government collects revenue. Because AI is effectively subsidized, Yang said the technology should be taxed to fund workers and mitigate the impact of job losses [2].
Under current systems, the government relies heavily on payroll taxes to fund social services, and infrastructure. If AI continues to automate roles across various sectors, the tax base provided by human employees could shrink. Yang said that shifting the tax burden to AI would ensure that the productivity gains from automation benefit the broader public rather than only the owners of the technology [1, 2].
This position echoes earlier proposals from Yang regarding universal basic income and the automation of the economy. By treating AI as a taxable entity, the government could create a new revenue stream to support those whose livelihoods are disrupted by software [2].
Yang said the move is necessary because the scale of replacement will be vast [2]. He said the transition to an AI-driven economy requires a structural change in fiscal policy to prevent mass economic instability [1].
“Andrew Yang is calling on the U.S. government to tax artificial intelligence technologies instead of taxing human workers.”
This proposal highlights a shift in the debate over AI from ethical concerns to fiscal policy. If the U.S. government moves toward a 'robot tax,' it would signal a formal recognition that AI is not merely a tool for productivity, but a replacement for human labor that requires a new social contract to prevent systemic unemployment.
