NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / — Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang has called on federal lawmakers on Tuesday to replace existing labor taxes with direct levies on artificial intelligence. During his appearance on CNBC’s Power Lunch, Yang highlighted that current tax policies inadvertently incentivize corporations to substitute human employees with automated systems. He cautioned that existing legislation effectively subsidizes job-replacing technologies by imposing high payroll taxes on employers while granting tax benefits to firms that deploy algorithms and automation tools.
Yang pointed out during the interview that under present tax laws, companies hiring human workers are responsible for significant payroll taxes and healthcare costs. In contrast, firms utilizing artificial intelligence do not face comparable labor taxes, thereby reducing operational expenses for automated workforce solutions. Noble Mobile’s CEO stressed that this legal framework implicitly encourages corporate leaders to accelerate automation across key sectors of the economy.
Andrew Yang Warns That We Are Subsidizing a Technology Capable of Replacing Millions of Jobs
Yang proposed a strategic policy shift that would redirect fiscal burdens from traditional payroll taxes toward revenue generated from artificial intelligence and compute tokens. He referenced recent remarks by Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, who previously proposed a 3 percent revenue tax on generative AI deployments. Yang argued that taxing interactions with automated software offers a practical way to manage market dynamics. He emphasized that revenue collected from such an AI tax should be redistributed directly to citizens as universal dividends, instead of being funneled into legacy retraining programs.
This debate takes place amid rising economic concerns about automation displacing jobs across the United States. A joint survey by CNBC and Generation Lab found that 45 percent of young Americans aged 18 to 34 believe artificial intelligence will negatively influence their long-term career prospects. Additionally, macroeconomic forecasts from Bridgewater Associates’ executives suggest that automated platforms could threaten approximately 18 percent of all U.S. jobs over the next five years.
Automated Industry Changes Displace Customer Service Workers Rapidly
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that customer service departments nationwide currently employ roughly 2.9 million workers, marking one of the first sectors experiencing swift automation-driven restructuring. Yang warned that government-led retraining initiatives historically failed to transition displaced workers into sustainable alternative careers. He pointed to past retraining efforts for coal miners and warehouse staff as evidence that direct financial support provides greater stability than federal job programs.
Yang concluded that legislative reforms are essential for ensuring that human workers remain competitive alongside advancing software agents. Since current tax policies subsidize a technology poised to replace millions of jobs, he stressed the importance of establishing neutral tax policies to manage the ongoing digital transformation of the labor market. Lawmakers are actively reviewing legislative proposals aimed at addressing workplace automation in upcoming congressional sessions.