'We're subsidizing a technology that will replace millions': Andrew Yang on calling for AI tax

August 18, 2026 - 20:56

Andrew Yang, the entrepreneur and former presidential candidate now leading the Forward Party, is making a fresh push for the government to tax artificial intelligence. Speaking on a business news program, Yang argued that current policies effectively subsidize automation at the expense of human workers. He said, "We're subsidizing a technology that will replace millions," and called for a shift in how the tax code treats companies that deploy AI.

Yang, who also serves as CEO of Noble Mobile, framed the issue as a matter of fairness. He pointed out that payroll taxes fund Social Security and Medicare, but when a company replaces a worker with software, those contributions stop. That leaves a growing hole in the safety net while tech firms enjoy lower labor costs. His proposed fix is an AI tax, which would charge companies for each job eliminated by automation. The revenue, he suggested, could go toward universal basic income or retraining programs.

The idea is not new for Yang, who ran on a similar platform in 2020. But he says the urgency has increased as generative AI tools have spread across industries like customer service, logistics, and even creative fields. He acknowledged that taxing innovation is a tricky sell, but he insisted that doing nothing is worse. "We have to decide what we want the economy to reward," he said. "Right now, we reward replacing people." His comments come as several states and cities begin exploring their own versions of an automation tax, though no major federal proposal has gained traction yet.