Most Workers Want a Public AI Wealth Fund

A clear majority of Americans have landed on a policy position that would have sounded radical a year ago. Sixty-nine percent of U.S. adults now support requiring AI companies to transfer 50% of their stock into a public sovereign wealth fund, according to a June survey of 1,690 adults by research firm Verasight, reported by CNBC. Verasight CEO Benjamin Leff said the finding suggests Americans increasingly see AI sovereign wealth funds as a mechanism to route the industry's gains back into the broader economy.

The timing isn't coincidental. The survey lands squarely on top of a summer defined by layoffs tied to AI adoption paired with record corporate profits and AI capital spending, a contrast that TheStreet's coverage framed as workers watching companies get leaner and richer at the same time. Oracle's headcount fell 13% over the past fiscal year while its severance costs jumped from $374 million to $1.8 billion, even as remaining performance obligations rose 325% to $553 billion. Salesforce cut roughly 4,000 customer support roles, with CEO Marc Benioff directly attributing the reductions to AI agents handling the work, while the company's Agentforce platform crossed $1.2 billion in annualized revenue, up 205% year over year.

The survey findings track closely with legislation introduced in June by Senator Bernie Sanders. The American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act proposes a one-time 50% stock levy on AI companies generating more than $200 million in annual receipts, funneled into a fund Sanders estimates could start with roughly $7 trillion in assets. "The future of AI and the fate of humanity must not be decided behind closed doors in Silicon Valley by billionaires seeking to maximize their power and profit," Sanders said when unveiling the bill.

The survey also revealed broader public appetite for AI oversight beyond wealth-sharing specifically. Eighty-one percent of respondents said the government should have authority to block the release of a risky AI system, and 49% believe the government should be the final decision-maker on AI company safety, according to IBTimes' analysis of the full survey results.

Goldman Sachs senior global economist Joseph Briggs estimated in a report last month that more than 9% of the U.S. labor force, roughly 15 million workers, could lose their jobs during a 10-year AI transition period. That forecast, combined with visible, ongoing layoffs at major tech companies our readers already track through coverage like Microsoft's 4,800 job cuts, helps explain why a policy this aggressive has moved from fringe idea to majority public opinion in a matter of months.

Not everyone agrees the underlying premise holds up. Critics argue a forced 50% stock transfer amounts to government-mandated equity seizure that could chill investment and push AI development offshore. There's also genuine debate about whether mass AI-driven job displacement is actually happening at the scale headlines suggest. Separate Gallup polling found that only 1% of laid-off workers directly cited AI or automation as the reason for their job loss, even though tech sector workers overall face elevated layoff exposure.

I've advised companies on AI adoption for four years, and this survey is worth taking seriously regardless of whether the specific policy ever becomes law. Public sentiment this lopsided against how AI's economic gains are currently distributed creates real regulatory and reputational risk for companies visibly cutting headcount while simultaneously reporting AI-driven profit growth. Businesses in this position should expect continued political and public pressure, regardless of this specific bill's odds in Congress.

Watch whether the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act gains meaningful traction in Congress, and whether other lawmakers introduce competing or complementary proposals as public frustration with the layoffs-alongside-profits pattern continues building through the rest of 2026's earnings season.