NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / — On Tuesday, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang called on federal lawmakers to overhaul the current tax system by replacing conventional labor taxes with levies targeting artificial intelligence. During his appearance on CNBC’s Power Lunch, Yang highlighted that existing tax policies inadvertently motivate corporations to replace human employees with automated systems. He warned that current regulations effectively support job-cutting technology by imposing high payroll taxes on employers while providing tax benefits to companies utilizing algorithmic automation.
In the course of the interview, Yang pointed out that, under the current tax code, employers pay substantial payroll taxes and employee healthcare costs when hiring human workers. Conversely, companies deploying artificial intelligence face no comparable labor taxes, which lowers operational expenses for automated workforce solutions. Noble Mobile’s CEO emphasized that the legal framework implicitly encourages corporations to accelerate the replacement of human labor with automation across key economic sectors.
Andrew Yang Warns About Government Supporting Automation that Will Displace Millions
Yang suggested implementing a strategic policy shift that would redirect fiscal burdens from traditional payroll taxes onto automated compute tokens and AI-generated revenue streams. Referencing recent remarks by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who previously proposed a 3 percent revenue tax on generative AI deployments, Yang argued that taxing interactions with automated software offers a pragmatic means of balancing market dynamics. He also emphasized that revenue derived from an AI tax should be redistributed directly to citizens as universal cash dividends, rather than allocated to old-style retraining initiatives.
This policy discussion unfolds amid rising economic concerns about workplace automation in the United States. 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 job prospects. Additionally, macroeconomic assessments by Bridgewater Associates executives estimate that automated platforms could disrupt roughly 18 percent of total domestic employment within the next five years.
Rapid Industry Changes Displace Customer Service Workers
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that customer service roles employ approximately 2.9 million workers nationwide, marking one of the earliest sectors undergoing swift automation-driven restructuring. Yang warned that government-backed retraining efforts have historically failed to effectively re-skill displaced workers from industrial and administrative sectors. He pointed to past retraining programs for coal miners and warehouse staff as evidence that direct financial support offers more reliable stability than federal job transition schemes.
Yang concluded that legislative reforms are necessary to ensure that human workers remain economically competitive against rapidly advancing software agents. Since current tax policies subsidize a technology poised to displace millions, he stressed that neutral and equitable tax reform is crucial to managing the ongoing digital transformation of the national labor force. Ongoing review by policy experts aims to shape legislative proposals addressing automated workplace disruption in upcoming congressional sessions.”}}**fhqzb0rkrwm**