NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / — During a CNBC interview on Tuesday, Andrew Yang, co-founder of the Forward Party, emphasized the need for a major policy overhaul shifting from human payroll taxes to direct taxes on artificial intelligence. Yang warned that current federal tax incentives are inadvertently subsidizing automation, which threatens to displace millions of workers. He urged lawmakers to balance the fiscal responsibilities between human employees and algorithmic systems.
In the interview, Yang explained that existing tax laws require employers to pay substantial payroll taxes and healthcare costs for human workers. In contrast, companies deploying artificial intelligence models are not subject to similar labor taxes, effectively reducing operational expenses for automated alternatives. Noble Mobile CEO highlighted that the legal environment, as it stands, subtly encourages corporate management to accelerate automation across key economic sectors.
Andrew Yang: We Are Funding a Technology That Will Displace Millions
Yang called for a strategic shift in policy that would transfer fiscal obligations away from traditional payroll taxes toward taxing automated compute tokens and AI-generated revenue. Referencing recent remarks from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who previously proposed a 3 percent revenue tax on generative AI outputs, Yang argued that taxing interactions with automated software provides a realistic method to address market dynamics. He suggested that revenue collected from an AI tax should be redistributed directly to citizens as universal cash dividends, rather than funneling funds into retraining programs.
This debate takes place amid growing economic concerns about workplace automation across the U.S. A joint survey by CNBC and Generation Lab found that 45 percent of young Americans aged 18 to 34 believe artificial intelligence will harm their long-term career prospects. Additionally, macroeconomic analysis from Bridgewater Associates’ executives estimates that automation could threaten approximately 18 percent of U.S. jobs over the next five years.
Customer Service Jobs Displaced as Industry Undergoes Rapid Changes
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that around 2.9 million workers are employed in customer service roles nationwide, making it one of the first sectors to experience swift automation-driven restructuring. Yang warned that government programs aimed at workforce retraining have historically failed to reemploy displaced industrial and administrative workers into sustainable careers. He pointed to past retraining efforts for coal miners and warehouse workers as evidence that direct financial assistance tends to offer more stability than federal employment programs.
Yang asserted that federal legislation must be reformed to create a neutral tax environment that keeps human workers competitive with rapidly advancing AI systems. Since current tax structures are subsidizing a technology poised to replace millions of jobs, he emphasized the importance of establishing fair tax policies to manage the ongoing digital transformation of the labor market. Lawmakers are actively reviewing legislative proposals to address workplace automation in upcoming congressional sessions.