Boardroom Coup: Feds Take Voting Shares

A man passionately speaking at a microphone during a public rally — Photo: OogImages / Shutterstock

Bernie Sanders is pushing a plan that would put the federal government inside the boardroom of major AI firms.

Quick Take

Sanders’s plan would impose a one-time **50% tax on stock** from the largest AI companies and place those shares in a sovereign wealth fund.^[1]^[3]
The fund would be run by an independent commission with voting power over company decisions.^[1]^[3]
Sanders says the fund could be worth about **$7 trillion** and pay Americans more than **$1,000 a year**.^[3]
Critics argue the proposal looks less like tax policy and more like a **government seizure** of private equity.^[8]^[11]

What Sanders Says the Plan Would Do

Sanders released a summary saying the American A.I. Sovereign Wealth Fund Act would tax the stock of the largest AI companies at a one-time rate of 50 percent.^[1] The shares would go into a public fund, not into general tax revenue. The summary also says the fund would give Americans a direct ownership stake and place the stock under an Independent Commission for Democratic AI.

Sanders’s own materials say the commission would use voting shares to block decisions that hurt the public and push policies that help it.^[1]^[3] His release says the fund could be worth about $7 trillion at current valuations.^[3] It also says a 5 percent annual dividend could provide more than $1,000 per person each year, with some money also directed toward health care, education, and housing.^[1]^[3]

Why Conservatives Are Calling It Confiscation

For many conservatives, the issue is simple: private stock is private property. The strongest criticism says Sanders is using the word “tax” to soften what is really a forced transfer of ownership from private firms to the federal government.^[8] That is why critics are invoking the Fifth Amendment and warning that the plan could face serious takings challenges if Congress ever tried to turn it into law.

The concern goes beyond the courtroom. If Washington becomes a giant shareholder in AI companies, it gains a built-in reason to favor those firms’ success. That creates a messy conflict for a government that is supposed to regulate fairly, not profit from the companies it oversees.^[11] It also gives future politicians a new lever over a fast-moving industry that already shapes speech, jobs, and national power.

What the Bill Leaves Unclear

The public summary gives the broad outline, but it does not answer every hard question. The available material does not show how the government would value the stock, transfer ownership, or avoid years of litigation.^[1]^[3] It also does not provide a company-by-company breakdown showing which firms would actually fall under the threshold. That matters, because the whole proposal depends on definitions that are still only partly described.

Senator Bernie Sanders’ American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act would effectively give the federal government a 50-percent stake in AI firms, expanding state involvement in the industry and raising concerns about competition and innovation.https://t.co/SJFcPJFAZn

— American Action Forum (@AAF) June 20, 2026

That gap leaves room for political spin on both sides. Supporters can sell the plan as a way to spread AI wealth to ordinary Americans. Opponents can frame it as a confiscatory attack on property rights and free enterprise.^[8]^[11] Until the full legislative text is public, the fight will stay focused on slogans, not settled details. For readers tired of Washington overreach, that alone is reason enough to watch this one closely.