NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / — Andrew Yang, the former 2020 Democratic presidential contender and co-founder of the Forward Party, reiterated his stance on taxing artificial intelligence directly during an interview on CNBC’s Power Lunch on Tuesday. He contended that current federal tax policies artificially incentivize corporations to replace human employees with automated digital systems. Speaking to viewers nationwide, Yang cautioned that our existing system effectively subsidizes a technology poised to eliminate millions of jobs by maintaining high payroll taxes on human labor while providing tax benefits to companies utilizing algorithmic automation.
During the discussion, Yang pointed out that under current tax laws, companies face substantial payroll taxes and healthcare costs for hiring human workers. Conversely, businesses adopting artificial intelligence do not pay comparable labor taxes, which reduces their operating expenses when shifting to automated labor. Noble Mobile’s CEO highlighted that these legal frameworks implicitly motivate corporate leadership to accelerate replacing human workers with automation across major sectors of the economy.
Andrew Yang Declares We’re Subsidizing a Technology That Will Displace Millions
Yang suggested that a strategic shift in policy could reallocate fiscal burdens from payroll taxes on humans to revenue models based on automated compute tokens and artificial intelligence. Citing recent comments from Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, who previously proposed a 3 percent revenue tax on generative AI applications, Yang argued that taxing interactions involving automated software offers a practical way to balance market dynamics. He emphasized that the revenue generated from such an AI tax should be distributed directly to citizens as universal cash dividends, rather than funding legacy retraining programs.
This policy debate unfolds amid growing economic concerns about automation threatening jobs across the United States. A recent joint survey by CNBC and Generation Lab revealed that 45 percent of young Americans aged 18 to 34 believe artificial intelligence will negatively affect their long-term career prospects. Additionally, macroeconomic forecasts from Bridgewater Associates project that automated platforms could disrupt about 18 percent of total jobs domestically over the next five years.
Displaced Customer Service Workers Face Rapid Industry Changes
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that approximately 2.9 million workers are employed in customer service departments nationwide, making it one of the first sectors experiencing swift automation-driven restructuring. Yang warned that government-funded workforce retraining efforts have historically failed to effectively transition displaced workers into sustainable new careers. He pointed to past retraining programs for coal miners and warehouse workers as evidence that direct financial support provides better stability than federal job programs.
Yang concluded that lawmakers must revise tax policies to ensure human workers remain competitive alongside advancing software agents. Since the current tax system subsidizes a technology that will replace millions of jobs, he stressed that establishing neutral tax policies is crucial for managing the ongoing digital transformation of the labor market. Legislative proposals to address automation’s impact on employment are currently under review ahead of upcoming congressional sessions.