Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming industries, economies, and societies. From offices to call centers, clinics to classrooms, AI adoption is accelerating at a pace that rivals the Industrial Revolution.
While this progress promises efficiency and innovation, it also threatens to cause unprecedented dislocation in the job market. Workers across warehouses, logistics, finance, and education face an uncertain future.
In response, some policymakers and tech lobbyists are floating the idea of universal basic income (UBI) as a cushion. But cash transfers alone cannot solve the structural imbalances caused by concentrated AI wealth and power.
Instead, the United States has an opportunity to ensure that the gains from AI are broadly shared, not hoarded by a handful of companies. The solution? A public AI wealth fund a collective investment mechanism that would allow every citizen to benefit from the returns generated by artificial intelligence.
Why Universal Basic Income Isn’t Enough
At first glance, universal basic income appears attractive. It promises a simple way to offset income losses by distributing cash directly to households. Yet UBI risks becoming a political band aid rather than a transformative solution.
Critics argue that it would weaken bargaining power at work, foster dependency, and cement existing inequalities by allowing tech corporations to dominate markets while the public settles for minimal payouts.
As the economist Mariana Mazzucato has noted, societies often socialize risks while privatizing rewards. Taxpayers fund the basic research behind AI, from public grants for machine learning to government sponsored supercomputing projects.
Yet, once commercialized, these technologies are controlled by private companies. Without intervention, AI threatens to widen the wealth gap between tech monopolies and ordinary workers.
A public AI wealth fund would flip this script. Rather than merely handing out cash after displacement, it would ensure the public directly shares in AI’s upside. Here’s how it might work.
Revenue Capture the government could impose a small levy on the profits of AI firms, licensing fees, or even on data usage, and direct those funds into a national pool.
Public Investment like sovereign wealth funds in Norway or Alaska’s Permanent Fund, this pool could be invested in long term assets. The returns would be distributed as dividends to citizens or reinvested in education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
Equity and Accountability by giving the public a financial stake in AI’s growth, the fund would create incentives for more responsible development, transparency, and shared prosperity.
This approach doesn’t just cushion disruption it reshapes incentives and rebalances power.
Lessons from Around the World
Alaska provides a useful model. Funded by oil revenues, the Permanent Fund has been paying annual dividends to residents since the 1980s. While oil wealth is finite, AI wealth is renewable and expanding.
Imagine applying a similar model to AI licensing fees or corporate profits the dividends could grow in perpetuity as AI adoption increases.
Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, valued at over $1.6 trillion, invests oil revenues into global assets for future generations. This forward looking approach ensures that natural resource wealth benefits not only today’s citizens but also tomorrow’s.
A US AI wealth fund could serve the same purpose future proofing against technological shocks. Singapore manages public wealth through Temasek, a state owned investor that strategically allocates funds across industries.
By diversifying investments, Singapore reduces risk while maximizing returns for its people. Similarly, a US AI wealth fund could diversify into green technology, biotech, and education while still tying dividends to AI growth.
Economist Thomas Piketty, known for his work on inequality, argues that concentrated capital ownership is one of the greatest threats to democracy. In his framework, redistributing ownership rather than just income is key.
An AI wealth fund does exactly that it gives citizens a stake in the most powerful technology of the century. AI ethicist Timnit Gebru has also highlighted how unchecked AI development disproportionately harms vulnerable communities.
By mandating public ownership and oversight, an AI wealth fund could address not just economic but also ethical concerns, ensuring that AI serves the shared good.
Worker Perspectives
When speaking to warehouse employees and call center staff in transition programs, one theme consistently emerges: people don’t just want handouts they want dignity and opportunity. A former logistics worker in Ohio shared how automation displaced him.
I didn’t want a check in the mail. I wanted retraining, I wanted a chance to get into a growing industry. The payouts don’t give you skills. They just make you feel like you’ve been sidelined.
Stories like his illustrate why UBI alone feels inadequate. A public AI wealth fund could finance retraining programs, scholarships, and apprenticeships alongside dividends empowering people to adapt rather than sidelining them.
For a US AI wealth fund to succeed, three pillars are essential. AI models are trained on vast amounts of publicly available data our texts, images, voices, and creative work.
If data is the new oil, then citizens should be compensated for its use. A portion of fund revenues could come from licensing data rights at scale.
Just as environmental polluters must pay for damage, AI companies should contribute to the public fund to offset social dislocation, misinformation risks, and other negative externalities.
Concentrated AI monopolies undermine competition and public benefit. By tying fund contributions to regulatory guardrails, policymakers can keep AI markets open and accountable.
The Human Dimension
Beyond economics, this is a moral question. Do we want a future where AI entrenches inequality, or one where it expands freedom and opportunity? By creating a public AI wealth fund, Congress can level the playing field, turning disruption into shared prosperity.
Technology has always carried dual possibilities. The printing press spread knowledge but also fueled censorship. Industrial machines increased productivity but also created harsh labor conditions until unions and public policy intervened.
AI is no different its impact depends on governance and ownership structures. The rise of AI is inevitable, but its outcomes are not predetermined. Congress has a once in a generation chance to create a public AI wealth fund.
That ensures the people who bear the costs of technological upheaval also share in the rewards. Unlike universal basic income, this approach doesn’t just patch wounds it builds resilience, equity, and dignity into the system.
As AI reshapes offices, classrooms, and clinics, the choice is stark allow a handful of corporations to monopolize the future, or create structures that democratize wealth and opportunity.
A public AI wealth fund is not just smart economics it’s the foundation of a fair, inclusive, and sustainable AI driven society.