NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / — In a CNBC interview Tuesday, Forward Party co-founder Andrew Yang emphasized the need for a fundamental policy overhaul, advocating for shifting from payroll taxes on human workers to direct levies on artificial intelligence. Yang warned that current federal tax incentives are encouraging automation that could displace millions of jobs, calling on policymakers to balance fiscal responsibilities between human employees and algorithmic systems.
During the discussion, Yang explained that existing tax laws impose heavy payroll taxes and healthcare costs on companies hiring human staff. In contrast, firms utilizing artificial intelligence face no comparable labor taxes, effectively reducing operational costs for automated alternatives. Noble Mobile CEO emphasized that the current legal environment implicitly pushes corporate management to accelerate automation across key economic sectors.
Andrew Yang Warns That We Are Supporting a Technology That Will Displace Millions
Yang suggested a strategic policy shift to reallocate fiscal burdens from traditional payroll taxes toward automated compute tokens and AI-derived revenue streams. Citing recent remarks by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who proposed a 3 percent revenue tax on generative AI applications, Yang contended that taxing interactions with automated software offers a pragmatic way to balance market dynamics. He added that revenue from such an AI tax should be redistributed directly to citizens as universal cash dividends, rather than funneling funds into legacy retraining initiatives.
This policy discussion unfolds amid rising economic concerns over workplace automation in the U.S. A recent joint survey by CNBC and Generation Lab found that 45 percent of young Americans aged 18 to 34 believe artificial intelligence will harm their long-term career prospects. Additionally, macroeconomic projections by Bridgewater Associates executives estimate that automation could impact around 18 percent of all U.S. jobs within the next five years.
Customer Service Workers Face Rapid Industry Changes Due to Automation
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that approximately 2.9 million customer service employees are currently working across the country, making this sector one of the first to undergo significant automated transformation. Yang warned that government-funded retraining programs have historically failed to help displaced workers in industries like manufacturing and logistics transition into sustainable new careers. He pointed to past efforts supporting coal miners and warehouse staff as evidence that direct financial assistance provides more stable support than federal job retraining initiatives.
Yang concluded that legislative reforms are crucial for ensuring human workers can remain competitive as AI and automation rapidly evolve. Since current tax policies subsidize a technology poised to replace millions of jobs, he stressed that establishing neutral and forward-looking tax policies is vital for managing the ongoing digital transformation of the labor market. Policymakers continue to examine legislative options to address the disruptions caused by automation in upcoming congressional sessions.