Poll finds broad US support for public stakes in AI companies

A Verasight survey found that 69% of Americans support requiring artificial intelligence companies to place 50% of their stock in a public sovereign wealth fund, a proposal gaining attention as technology layoffs raise concerns about job security. The poll of 1,690 adults, conducted in June and released this month, points to growing public interest in sharing the financial gains from AI beyond company shareholders.

Benjamin Leff, chief executive of Verasight, said the polling showed that many people view AI sovereign funds as a way to return part of the industry’s gains to society more broadly. The finding comes as U.S. companies continue to increase capital spending on AI expansion while workers in the technology sector face a rising number of layoffs.

The idea has also entered the legislative debate in Washington. Senator Bernie Sanders in June proposed the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would give the public a 50% stake in the largest AI companies in the United States if enacted.

Sanders said in a statement last month that the measure would ensure that AI-generated economic benefits are used to improve lives broadly, rather than chiefly increasing the wealth of the richest individuals. He also said decisions about AI’s future and humanity’s fate should not be made privately in Silicon Valley by billionaires seeking power and profit.

How an AI wealth fund would work

A sovereign wealth fund is a state-owned investment vehicle that holds assets on behalf of the public. In the AI proposal described by Verasight and Sanders, large AI companies would be required to transfer equity into a public fund. That would give the public treasury a direct claim on part of the value created by those companies.

Such a structure differs from a tax because it gives the fund an ownership stake rather than a recurring claim on profits or revenue. If the companies’ equity value rises, the public fund’s stake could appreciate. If values fall, the fund would also be exposed to those losses.

Research firm Windfall Trust says sovereign wealth funds could play several roles in AI. They could finance costly AI infrastructure, hold equity positions in AI businesses, and capture part of the sector’s economic gains for public balance sheets.

Windfall Trust also points to policy tensions. A fund designed to maximize returns for citizens may find its strongest investment opportunities in foreign AI companies, while a fund designed to build national AI capacity may prioritize domestic projects or strategic influence over frontier AI systems. Those objectives can conflict, according to the research firm.

Labor-market concerns frame the debate

Job displacement is a central concern behind the policy discussion. Goldman Sachs Senior Global Economist Joseph Briggs estimates that more than 9% of the labor force, equal to about 15 million workers, could lose jobs during a 10-year AI transition period, according to a Goldman Sachs report published last month.

Briggs described the potential disruption as comparable to automation and reallocation shocks seen in the late 1990s, early 2000s and other periods of significant technological change, according to Goldman Sachs. The bank’s report also said Briggs expects those losses to be temporary because AI is likely to create many new jobs over the long run while eliminating existing ones.

The Verasight findings show that public attitudes toward AI are being shaped not only by productivity expectations and corporate investment plans, but also by anxiety over who will receive the economic gains from the technology. For investors and policymakers, the debate now links AI governance with labor-market risk, public ownership and the distribution of technology-driven wealth.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.