NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / — Andrew Yang, a former 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful and co-founder of the Forward Party, reiterated his call for direct taxation on artificial intelligence on Tuesday during an interview on CNBC’s Power Lunch. He argued that the current federal tax system unintentionally encourages corporations to replace human workers with digital automation by maintaining high payroll taxes on labor while offering tax benefits to companies using algorithms. Yang warned viewers nationwide that we are subsidizing a technology that threatens to displace millions of workers.
During the discussion, Yang pointed out that existing tax laws impose substantial payroll taxes and healthcare costs on employers when hiring human employees. Meanwhile, companies implementing artificial intelligence face no comparable taxes, lowering their operational costs for automated alternatives. Noble Mobile’s CEO emphasized that current legal policies implicitly motivate corporate decision-makers to expedite replacing human jobs with automation across key sectors of the economy.
Andrew Yang Warns That We Are Subsidizing a Technology That Will Displace Millions
Yang suggested a strategic policy shift that would transfer fiscal responsibilities from payroll taxes onto automated compute tokens and AI-driven revenue streams. Referring to recent remarks from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who previously proposed a 3 percent tax on revenue from generative AI services, Yang explained that taxing interactions with automated software offers a practical solution to balance market dynamics. He emphasized that the income generated from such an AI tax should be redistributed directly to citizens as universal cash dividends, instead of funding traditional retraining programs.
This debate unfolds amid growing economic concerns over automation’s impact on employment nationwide. A joint survey by CNBC and Generation Lab found that 45 percent of young Americans aged 18 to 34 believe artificial intelligence will negatively influence their future career prospects. Additionally, an economic analysis from Bridgewater Associates predicts that technological automation could threaten about 18 percent of all U.S. jobs within the next five years.
Customer Service Workers Face Rapid Industry Overhaul
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that customer service roles currently number approximately 2.9 million, making it one of the first sectors experiencing swift automation-driven change. Yang warned that government-led retraining efforts have historically failed to effectively transition displaced workers into sustainable jobs. He cited past initiatives targeting coal miners and warehouse staff as evidence that direct financial support is more reliable than federal retraining programs.
Yang concluded that legislation must be reformed to create a fair tax environment, ensuring human workers stay competitive against advancing software agents. As we are currently subsidizing a technology poised to displace millions under existing tax policies, he stressed that establishing neutral and balanced tax rules is crucial for managing the ongoing digital transformation of the U.S. labor market. Policymakers are actively reviewing proposed legislative measures to address automation’s impact on employment in upcoming congressional sessions.