A nationwide survey conducted by market research firm Verasight, which covered 1,690 U.S. adults, found that as many as 69% of respondents support requiring large artificial intelligence companies to transfer 50% of their shares to a public sovereign wealth fund.

This public opinion aligns closely with the recent "U.S. Artificial Intelligence Sovereign Wealth Fund Act" proposed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. The proposed bill aims to establish a public ownership of 50% in the largest AI companies in the U.S., creating a public trust fund worth $7 trillion, intended to ensure that the vast wealth generated by automation is directed toward the public.

AI, artificial intelligence, robots, 2024d9dc94358d8e

Behind this legislative movement and the rising public sentiment is the increasingly severe reshaping of the labor market and the pressure on public costs. Data shows that over 166,000 employees have been laid off in the tech industry by 2026, and tracking platform Trueup predicts this number could reach 312,000 within the year; senior global economist Joseph Briggs from Goldman Sachs also estimates that 15 million workers in the U.S. will face unemployment threats during the decade of AI transition.

At the same time, the load of AI data centers on the U.S. power grid has led to a sharp increase in electricity bills, and Congress has passed a bipartisan proposal, the "Taxpayer Protection Act," aiming to force technology companies to share the cost of infrastructure upgrades. Although industry critics warn that forced share transfers are an extreme form of wealth extraction that could freeze venture capital and stifle domestic R&D, the dramatic shift in public opinion indicates that the distribution mechanism of the AI industry has become a core political issue, and Silicon Valley is facing substantial pressure to fulfill broader social responsibilities.