Andrew Yang says we should stop taxing workers -- and start taxing AI

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Business Insider

Mar 13, 2026, 5:10 AM ET


Andrew Yang says the US is taxing the wrong thing as artificial intelligence begins to reshape the labor market. "You tend to tax things that you want to discourage, that you want less of," the Forward Party founder and former presidential candidate said in an interview on CNBC's Squawk Box on Wednesday.

As AI systems replace human tasks, he said, "we should actually try to stop taxing labor." Instead, Yang believes companies benefiting most from automation should shoulder more of the tax burden.

He pointed to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's warning last year that AI could automate up to 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs within the next five years — and to Amodei's suggestion that AI firms themselves should be taxed.

"Since when does the CEO of a major company raise his hand and say, 'Hey, tax me and mine'?" Yang said, adding that tech leaders "see the writing on the wall" and understand a backlash could be coming.

Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-yang-says-stop-taxing-workers-start-taxing-ai-2026-3

[FakeNoose]

1. This is never going to happen but I like this idea

The tech-bro's are already losing $ billions on developing and investing in AI. There's no profitable revenue in AI at all, except they believe it will eventually become "free labor." Eventually every union in the US will be busted and rendered ineffective because AI will save the day.

Magical thinking....

[rogue emissary]

2. Well a broken clock is right blah blah blah

We tax cigarettes to dissuade people from smoking. See nothing wrong with taxing AI to pressure companies from using it.

[dickthegrouch]

3. Not possible to tax negative incomes!!!

[-misanthroptimist]

11. What if...

...we increase the tax 500, 600, 700%? (Trump logic/math)

[Picturelady]

4. This guy proposed a national income

I've been thinking about the need for a minimum national income, federal payments made directly to people, in light of the rise of not only AI, but robotics and automation. I couldn't remember the name of the guy who proposed it during his 2016 presidential campaign, but this Andrew Yang is the guy. Ahead of his time for sure, as his message just didn't resonate with people 10 years ago. His tax proposal is excellent. I hope we hear more from him.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. That proposal is part way to nationalizing private industry

People built it, it's all a sovereign wealth fund, people get payments from it. Trouble is there went incentive to work, innovation, at least from a money income standpoint. Work becomes intellectual prowess. Lord knows America has precious little of that in the general population.

[Initech]

6. No, tax the billionaire tech bros who are pushing this shit on us.

When they have democracy ending money, they own too much.

[Bluetus]

7. Brilliant idea, wrong argument

We don't tax just to discourage. We tax to fund our society. We tax the income of workers under the theory that they are adding value and that added value is the fairest thing to tax.

With AI, it should be exactly the same thing, except that the AI and bots don't draw a salary. It is a stretch to tax the use of AI, bots and agents. But what makes perfect sense is to tax that value chain upstream at its origin.

For example, if a company sells a LLM solution to another company with the proposition that it will allow them to eliminate 40 customer support employees, then there should be a tax at the origin. The builder/seller of this tech should be taxed:
*** 40 employees X
*** useful life of the solution (10 years) X
*** Average salary of the displaced workers ($50,000) X
*** the normal income tax rate (say, an effective rate of 20%)

In other words, when selling this solution, either the seller or the buyer should be liable for a tax assessment of FOUR MILLION DOLLARS. In addition, the AI seller should be responsible for unemployment insurance, FICA and the other payroll taxes the displaced workers would have paid.

[ABC123Easy]

8. Who is Andrew Yang?

Why do I care one iota what this guy has to say?

[BumRushDaShow]

9. He once worked in the Obama administration and ran in the Democratic Party's 2020 primary for President

DU has a now-retired "Primaries" forum that was dedicated to discussions about him back then (now archived/read-only) -

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1304

He also ran for Mayor of NYC in 2021 as a Democrat (the race that Eric Adams eventually won) and then decided to create his own party.

[ABC123Easy]

13. Thank you

My apologies, I was being sarcastic but failed to put the emoticon in the post. I appreciate the effort in your reply though.

[BumRushDaShow]

14. I figured you might have been..

basically lumping him in oddballs like Marianne Williamson (and to some degree, Mike Gravel).

BUT... the one thing that he kept harping on - the "Universal Basic Income", seemed to hit home where the variation of that - the "Guaranteed Basic Income" has actually been pilot tested extensively in a number of locales recently and it seemed to work... at least for whatever period they ran the tests.

Nearly 30,000 Americans have received about $335 million in basic income. Here are 5 takeaways.

[ABC123Easy]

15. Yep

I remember that from when he ran for POTUS. Then he suddenly (to me anyway) dropped out. Didn't he try a 3rd party run with Cornell West?

[NNadir]

10. I forgot this guy existed. With any luck...

...I may forget again.

[twodogsbarking]

12. The national debt is high because the homeless aren't paying enough in taxes.

Wait for it.