New polling suggests that a plan from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to give the public a large ownership stake in major artificial intelligence companies has the support of a clear majority of Americans.
In the survey, nearly 7 in 10 respondents said they backed the idea.
What happened?
According to Gizmodo, a June survey by research firm Verasight found that 69% of adults support Sanders' proposal to require major AI companies to transfer half their stock to a sovereign wealth fund owned by the public. The poll surveyed 1,690 adults.
When the question named Sanders directly, support dipped modestly to 64%. Gizmodo also reported that the share of respondents who said they "strongly" support the proposal was 3% higher under that version of the question.
Rather than taxing profits, Sanders' American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act would impose a one-time tax on company stock. He explained, "This legislation would give the public a direct ownership stake in the largest AI companies in America through a one-time 50% tax, not on profits, but on stock."
Respondents also expressed strong backing for broader AI safeguards. Verasight found that 89% support requiring companies to release their internal safety-testing results to the public, and 81% support giving the federal government power to block AI systems judged unsafe.
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Why does it matter?
AI is increasingly shaping jobs, education, health care, and the broader economy, making it harder to ignore questions about who benefits financially from the technology.
Those risks are not only economic. AI is becoming more deeply tied to the energy grid because training and running large models require enormous amounts of electricity and, in many cases, water to cool data centers. That can strain local infrastructure and potentially drive up energy bills.
At the same time, AI can also bring benefits by helping utilities better forecast demand, integrate wind and solar power, and improve the efficiency of clean energy systems.
There are also concerns about misuse, security, misinformation, and unintended social consequences if AI tools are deployed too quickly or without meaningful safeguards. The poll suggests many Americans want both stronger oversight and a more direct public share in any upside.
What's being done?
The proposal aims to both share AI wealth more broadly and give the public a say in how the biggest companies operate. Alongside moving stock into a public fund, it would give the government influence through voting shares and board seats.
That approach differs from more familiar calls to regulate AI through disclosure rules, licensing, or safety standards alone. It suggests that if AI is becoming foundational infrastructure for modern life, the public should not just police it from the outside but share in its ownership.
In the New York Times, Sanders wrote, "The federal government would have the power, through its voting shares and an equal representation on each company's board, to block decisions that hurt our citizens and to push for policies that help them," referring to the proposal's governance powers.
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