NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / — Andrew Yang, a former 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful and co-founder of the Forward Party, reiterated his advocacy for implementing a national AI tax on Tuesday. He warned that current federal fiscal policies are skewing the labor market. Speaking on CNBC, Yang, CEO of Noble Mobile, highlighted that high employer payroll taxes discourage hiring human workers. He explained that the tax system unintentionally favors automation by excluding software deployment from equivalent labor tax obligations.
During the interview, Yang emphasized that existing tax laws impose substantial payroll taxes and healthcare costs on employers when hiring people. In contrast, companies utilizing artificial intelligence face no comparable labor taxes, which reduces the costs associated with replacing human workers with automated systems. Yang, representing Noble Mobile, pointed out that current legal structures subtly promote the acceleration of automated labor across key sectors of the economy.
Andrew Yang Warns: We’re Funding a Tech That Will Displace Millions
Yang suggested a strategic shift in policy, advocating for reassigning fiscal responsibilities from traditional payroll taxes to revenue models based on automated compute tokens and AI-generated income. Referring to recent remarks by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who proposed a 3 percent revenue tax on generative AI deployments, Yang argued that levying taxes on interactions with automated software could help balance market dynamics. He further stated that revenue from an AI tax should be redistributed directly to citizens as universal cash dividends, rather than funneled into retraining initiatives.
This discussion comes amid growing economic concern over workplace automation in the U.S. A recent joint survey from CNBC and Generation Lab shows that 45 percent of young Americans aged 18 to 34 believe AI will adversely affect their future employment prospects. Additionally, macroeconomic forecasts by Bridgewater Associates executives estimate that automated platforms could displace about 18 percent of all jobs domestically within the next five years.
Rapid Changes in Customer Service Jobs Due to Automation
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that roughly 2.9 million workers are employed in customer service roles nationwide, marking this as one of the first sectors experiencing swift automation-driven transformation. Yang warned that federal workforce retraining programs have historically failed to help displaced workers transition into sustainable new careers. Citing past initiatives aimed at coal miners and warehouse employees, he argued that direct financial support tends to yield more stability than federal job retraining schemes.
Yang emphasized the necessity for federal policymakers to overhaul tax laws to keep human workers competitive in the face of rapidly advancing AI agents. Given that current tax structures subsidize a technology poised to replace millions of jobs, he stressed that neutral, well-crafted tax policies are crucial for managing the ongoing digital shift in the labor market. Legislative proposals are under review as policymakers prepare to tackle automated workplace disruptions in upcoming congressional sessions.