/Tech22h ago

Economist Casts Doubt on Bernie’s Proposed 50% AI Lab Tax

326477.1K

#701

Original post

Samuel Hammond 🦉#701

MTS@MTSlive

Could the US government actually do a one time 50% tax of the AI labs?

We asked @hamandcheese, chief economist at @joinFAI, whether Bernie's proposal has any legal path forward.

"There are degrees of nationalization on some level every company in America is nationalized insofar as they pay corporate income taxes and abide by our laws."

"Bernie's proposal is to take a one-time tax for 50% of OpenAI and Anthropic... very unlikely to ever happen."

"The Constitution has a takings clause, you have to pay fair market value for that equity. Unless they're planning to print a trillion-dollar coin, that's not in the cards."

"Taking a small non-controlling stake, not the craziest idea in the world. I just think we don't have the political economy of Norway."

Samuel Hammond 🦉@hamandcheese

Nationalizing AI companies is a terrible idea. But if it happens, it's likely to be done slowly and stealthily through procurement rules and other forms of quasi-regulatory co-optation.

This btw is another reason to favor independent verification orgs over direct govt control.

3:30 PM · Jun 5, 2026 · 7.1K Views

/Tech22h ago

Economist Casts Doubt on Bernie’s Proposed 50% AI Lab Tax

326477.1K

#701

Original post

Samuel Hammond 🦉#701

MTS@MTSlive

Could the US government actually do a one time 50% tax of the AI labs?

We asked @hamandcheese, chief economist at @joinFAI, whether Bernie's proposal has any legal path forward.

"There are degrees of nationalization on some level every company in America is nationalized insofar as they pay corporate income taxes and abide by our laws."

"Bernie's proposal is to take a one-time tax for 50% of OpenAI and Anthropic... very unlikely to ever happen."

"The Constitution has a takings clause, you have to pay fair market value for that equity. Unless they're planning to print a trillion-dollar coin, that's not in the cards."

"Taking a small non-controlling stake, not the craziest idea in the world. I just think we don't have the political economy of Norway."

Samuel Hammond 🦉@hamandcheese

Nationalizing AI companies is a terrible idea. But if it happens, it's likely to be done slowly and stealthily through procurement rules and other forms of quasi-regulatory co-optation.

This btw is another reason to favor independent verification orgs over direct govt control.

3:30 PM · Jun 5, 2026 · 7.1K Views

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Ben Horne@benjamin_horne

@MTSlive @hamandcheese @JoinFAI Gotchu. Here's how it plays out from here.

19h36

Eclipse 🌖@ECLresearch

@MTSlive @hamandcheese @JoinFAI The 50% tax threshold would need to survive a Fifth Amendment takings clause challenge—confiscatory taxes on a single industry rarely hold without clear "public use" justification. Curious how the legal memo squared that with *Horne v. Department of Agriculture*.

22h