Everybody Should Welcome Nationalizing AI
Bernie Sanders wants to nationalize half the stock of major AI companies and create a sovereign wealth fund for the American people. The case for going even further is stronger than most people realize.
If tech executives are right about the devastating effects their products will have on the livelihoods of massive swaths of the US population, they can hardly turn around and complain that it’s unfair for their companies to be partially nationalized. (Eric Lee / Bloomberg)
No figure in recent decades has done more to direct public attention and left-wing energy to universalistic left-wing policy proposals than Bernie Sanders. During his two runs for the presidency, he introduced “Medicare for All” into the lexicon of American politics. Now he’s made waves with a proposal to create a sovereign wealth fund by nationalizing half the stock of major AI companies.
His rationale is simple and compelling. “Since A.I. is built on the collective knowledge of humanity,” Senator Sanders writes, “the wealth it generates must benefit humanity.”
Several prominent tech executives have made apocalyptic predictions about how AI-fueled automation will sweep across the economy, destroying a massive percentage of existing jobs. The industry’s critics argue that most of this is hype. We’ll see.
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