Sanders Proposes Bill to Move 50% of Big AI Firms' Stock to Public Fund

In June 2026, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders unveiled a legislative plan to levy a one-time tax of 50% of the equity of major AI firms such as OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI, transferring those shares to a government-run sovereign wealth fund. A Wall Street Journal opinion piece countered that seizing stock without compensation would chill investment in innovation, surfacing a dispute over who should own AI's profits.