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Comment by Bernie Sanders

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U.S. Senator from Vermont
[...] and that is why, just last week, I introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act. This legislation would give the public a direct ownership stake in the largest AI companies in America. It would allow the American people, through their government, to own 50 percent of the stock of the major AI companies in our country. [...] Well, we would require this fund to pay an annual dividend of 5 percent directly to the American people.
AI Verified source (Jun 22, 2026)
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Policy proposals and claims
Frontier AI labs should be required to contribute a share of their equity to a national fund that pays a dividend to every citizen
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AI Verified Yes. In context, Sanders is advocating his own "American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act," which would make the public/government own 50% of major AI companies' stock through a sovereign wealth fund and require that fund to pay annual dividends directly to Americans. That clearly supports requiring frontier AI firms to contribute equity to a national fund that pays citizens. ([govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-06-22/pdf/CREC-2026-06-22.pdf)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 1h ago
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AI Verified He explicitly backs this: he says his bill would let the public "own 50 percent of the stock of the major AI companies" through an AI sovereign wealth fund and require that fund to "pay an annual dividend ... directly to the American people," which supports requiring frontier AI firms to contribute equity to a national citizen-dividend fund. ([govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-06-22/pdf/CREC-2026-06-22.pdf)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 1h ago
A nation should fund a citizens' dividend from AI windfall profits
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AI Verified In context, the speaker is advocating a national AI sovereign wealth fund that would capture AI-generated wealth for the public and "pay an annual dividend" directly to Americans; he says the bill would ensure "the economic benefits generated by AI" improve everyone’s lives, which clearly indicates support for the full idea of a citizens’ dividend funded from AI windfalls. ([govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-06-22/pdf/CREC-2026-06-22.pdf)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 1h ago
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AI Verified He explicitly supports the idea: he says the wealth generated by AI 'must be used to benefit ordinary Americans' and proposes a sovereign wealth fund that would pay 'an annual dividend of 5 percent directly to the American people.' That is strong support for a citizens' dividend funded from AI-derived windfalls, even though his mechanism is public ownership of AI firms rather than a profits tax. ([govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-06-22/pdf/CREC-2026-06-22.pdf)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 1h ago

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AI Verified The June 22, 2026 Congressional Record PDF contains this passage in the Senate section under "ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE." It shows "Mr. SANDERS" speaking, and the text includes the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, the public owning 50 percent of major AI companies, and a 5 percent annual dividend to the American people, matching the supplied quote aside from the allowed omissions. The stored author, date, and source URL are consistent with the record. ([govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-06-22/pdf/CREC-2026-06-22.pdf)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 1h ago
replying to Bernie Sanders