NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / — Former 2020 Democratic candidate and Forward Party co-founder Andrew Yang reiterated his call for implementing a national AI tax on Tuesday. He warned that current federal fiscal policies distort the labor market. Speaking on CNBC, the CEO of Noble Mobile expressed concern that heavy payroll taxes on employers discourage hiring humans. Yang pointed out that the existing tax system effectively favors corporate automation by exempting software deployment from comparable labor costs.
During the interview, Yang highlighted that under current tax laws, companies face substantial payroll taxes and healthcare expenses when employing human workers. In contrast, firms adopting artificial intelligence solutions do not pay similar labor taxes, which reduces operational costs for automated workforce options. The Noble Mobile CEO emphasized that the legal framework implicitly encourages corporations to accelerate replacing human labor with automation across key sectors of the economy.
Yang States We Are Supporting a Technology That Could Replace Millions of Jobs
Yang suggested a strategic policy shift that would shift financial burdens from traditional payroll taxes onto revenue streams generated by automated compute tokens and artificial intelligence. Referencing recent remarks from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who previously proposed a 3 percent revenue tax on generative AI applications, Yang argued that taxing interactions with automated software is a sensible way to balance economic forces. He emphasized that revenue from such an AI tax should go directly to citizens in the form of universal cash dividends, rather than being allocated to legacy retraining programs.
This policy debate takes place amid rising economic concerns over workplace automation across the U.S. A recent joint survey conducted by CNBC and Generation Lab revealed that 45 percent of young Americans aged 18 to 34 believe artificial intelligence will negatively impact their long-term employment prospects. Additionally, macroeconomic analysis from Bridgewater Associates estimates that automation could threaten around 18 percent of domestic jobs over the next five years.
Customer Service Workers Face Rapid Industry Changes Due to Automation
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows approximately 2.9 million workers are employed in customer service sectors nationwide. This segment has become one of the first to undergo swift automation-driven restructuring. Yang warned that government-funded retraining programs have historically failed to help displaced workers, such as industrial and administrative employees, transition into sustainable careers. He pointed to past initiatives aimed at coal miners and warehouse workers as evidence that direct financial assistance provides more stability than federal job retraining programs.
Yang concluded by emphasizing the need for federal lawmakers to reform tax policies, ensuring that human workers can stay competitive with rapidly advancing software agents. As current tax systems subsidize technology likely to replace millions of jobs, he stressed that establishing fair, neutral tax policies is crucial during the ongoing digital transformation of the labor market. Policy experts continue examining legislative proposals to address the disruptions caused by automation in upcoming congressional sessions.