New York State Assemblyman Proposes AI Dividend to Offset Job Displacement

ME News reports that on April 20 (UTC+8), according to monitoring by Beating, Alex Bores, a New York State Assemblymember and Democratic congressional candidate for New York’s 12th District, has proposed an “AI Dividend” initiative. This mechanism would activate when AI significantly replaces U.S. jobs, distributing funds directly to Americans while allocating additional resources toward vocational training, education, and building independent government regulatory capacity. The funding strategy consists of three components: imposing a low-rate “token tax” on AI usage, sharing returns through equity holdings in leading AI companies, and reforming the tax code to reduce incentives for businesses to further invest in AI-driven workforce reduction. Bores has already included “taxing large AI companies to distribute AI dividends to Americans” as a key platform plank. Unlike general discussions of universal basic income, this proposal specifies the trigger condition as “AI significantly replacing jobs” and directly ties funding sources to AI usage and AI company profits. Previously, Bores championed the passage of the RAISE Act in New York State, focusing on AI safety; this initiative shifts the focus one step further toward distributional issues. Political debates in the U.S. around AI are now expanding from “whether to regulate” to “who should benefit from efficiency gains.” (Source: BlockBeats)