NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / — Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang called on federal legislators Tuesday to replace conventional payroll taxes with direct levies on artificial intelligence. During CNBC’s Power Lunch, Yang emphasized that current tax policies incentivize corporations to substitute human employees with automated solutions. He cautioned that existing laws effectively encourage the adoption of job-replacing technologies by imposing high payroll taxes on employers while providing tax benefits to companies utilizing algorithmic automation.
In the course of the interview, Yang pointed out that under current tax legislation, companies hiring human workers are burdened with substantial payroll taxes and employee healthcare expenses. In contrast, businesses deploying artificial intelligence face no comparable labor taxes, which reduces their operational costs compared to maintaining human staff. The CEO of Noble Mobile underscored that the present legal framework implicitly promotes the acceleration of automated labor replacement across key sectors of the economy.
Andrew Yang States We’re Funding a Technology That Will Displace Millions
Yang proposed a strategic policy shift that would reallocate financial burdens from traditional human payroll taxes to taxes on automated compute tokens and AI-driven revenue streams. Highlighting recent remarks from Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, who previously suggested a 3 percent revenue tax on generative AI deployments, Yang argued that taxing interactions with automated software is a pragmatic measure to address market dynamics. He suggested that revenue from such an AI tax should be redistributed directly to citizens as universal cash dividends, rather than channeling funds into legacy retraining initiatives.
This policy discussion unfolds amid rising economic concerns regarding automation’s impact on employment across the US. A recent joint survey by CNBC and Generation Lab found that 45 percent of young Americans aged 18 to 34 foresee negative effects of artificial intelligence on their long-term career prospects. Additionally, macroeconomic estimates from Bridgewater Associates’ executives project that automated platforms could threaten roughly 18 percent of the national workforce within five years.
Rapid Industry Changes Displace Customer Service Workers
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that customer service sectors currently employ approximately 2.9 million workers, making it one of the first fields experiencing swift automation-driven restructuring. Yang warned that federal programs aimed at workforce retraining have historically struggled to help displaced industrial and administrative workers transition into sustainable alternative careers. He referenced past retraining efforts for coal miners and warehouse workers as evidence that direct financial support tends to provide more stability than government job programs.
Yang concluded by urging lawmakers to reform tax laws to keep human workers competitive against rapidly advancing software agents. Given that current tax policies subsidize technology capable of replacing millions of jobs, he stressed the importance of establishing neutral tax policies to navigate the ongoing digital transformation of the labor market. Policy specialists continue to review legislative proposals aimed at addressing automation-related disruptions in upcoming congressional sessions.