NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / — As concerns around workplace automation intensify across the United States, former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and Forward Party co-founder Andrew Yang has renewed his advocacy for implementing a national AI tax. Speaking on CNBC, the CEO of Noble Mobile expressed worries that current federal fiscal policies distort the labor market. He explained that high employer payroll taxes discourage human employment, pointing out that the tax code currently subsidizes corporate automation by making software deployment cheaper compared to hiring human workers.
During the interview, Yang highlighted that existing tax laws impose substantial payroll taxes and healthcare costs on enterprises that hire human employees. Meanwhile, companies utilizing artificial intelligence face no such labor-related taxes, which reduces the overall expense of automating workforce functions. He emphasized that the present legal framework unintentionally promotes rapid automation across key sectors of the economy.
Yang Warns About Subventions for Technology That Will Displace Millions of Jobs
The entrepreneur suggested a strategic shift in fiscal policy that would move the tax burden away from traditional payroll taxes towards automated compute tokens and AI-driven income models. Referencing recent remarks from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who proposed a 3 percent revenue tax on generative AI deployments, Yang maintained that taxing interactions with automated software is a practical step toward restoring market balance. He also stressed that funds generated from an AI tax should be directly redistributed to citizens as universal dividends, rather than channeled into retraining programs.
This debate unfolds amid rising economic anxiety over the impact of automation on employment. A recent joint survey conducted by CNBC and Generation Lab found that 45 percent of young Americans aged 18 to 34 believe AI will harm their career opportunities over the long term. Additionally, macroeconomic research from Bridgewater Associates estimated that about 18 percent of US jobs could be disrupted by automation within the next five years.
Automated Technologies Rapidly Reshape Customer Service Roles
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that roughly 2.9 million workers are employed in customer service departments nationwide, marking one of the earliest sectors experiencing swift automation. Yang warned that government-led retraining programs have historically struggled to successfully transition displaced industrial and administrative workers into sustainable careers. As evidence, he cited past initiatives aimed at coal miners and warehouse workers, which showed that direct financial support tends to offer more stability than federal job retraining efforts.
He concluded by emphasizing the necessity for lawmakers to overhaul tax policies to keep human workers competitive alongside advancing AI agents. Since current tax structures effectively subsidize a technology poised to replace millions of jobs, Yang stressed that establishing neutral, forward-looking tax policies is vital for managing the ongoing digital transformation of the labor market. Ongoing discussions among policy experts are reviewing legislative options to address automation-induced disruptions in upcoming congressional sessions.