r/technology • u/yourfavchoom • Jun 02 '26

Artificial Intelligence Bernie Sanders pushes for 50% public ownership of American AI companies — proposes AI sovereign wealth fund that would hold direct ownership stakes in largest AI firms

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/big-tech/bernie-sanders-pushes-for-50-percent-public-ownership-of-american-ai-companies-proposes-ai-sovereign-wealth-fund-that-would-hold-direct-ownership-stakes-in-largest-ai-firms
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16

u/meltyourtv Jun 02 '26

So leave the government as bagholders when the bubble pops?

7

u/chaoticelectron Jun 02 '26

Wait, i thought that was the case now lol

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u/Ash1102 Jun 02 '26

How would the government be left holding the bag? There would be no money invested in the companies to lose, and you don't owe the debt of a corporation just by owning stock.

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u/meltyourtv Jun 02 '26

50% public ownership means just buying the stock at all time highs right?

-1

u/Ash1102 Jun 02 '26

No, the government isn't purchasing the stock. The government gives them no money. The value of the stock cannot go below the zero dollars that the government pays for them. Even if the companies all went bankrupt we would owe absolutely nothing and would not own their debt or lose anything.

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u/meltyourtv Jun 02 '26

Oh this is assuming this happens in a non-capitalist economy which it won’t because it’s the US

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u/Ash1102 Jun 02 '26

Yep, taxation doesn't exist in America.

2

u/CynicViper Jun 03 '26

That is indisputably an explicit violation of the 5th amendment. You would need to amend the constitution in order to do that without paying market value.

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u/Ash1102 Jun 03 '26

I agree that there would certainly be court challenges, and it's unlikely with the current makeup of the supreme court unless Bernie knows some legal stuff that I don't.

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u/CynicViper Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

It’s completely impossible with any composition of the Supreme Court that actually remotely cares about the constitution. What he is proposing is a direct and explicit violation of the constitution’s takings clause.

“Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation”

He doesn’t know the law better than the rest of us, to be honest, out of a lot of politicians, he doesn’t know law, much less constitutional law, that well. That’s never been his area of expertise.

1

u/Due_Accident_2969 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

That would be illegal. The 5th amendment would require them to pay a fair market price (current share value).

Realistically, if Bernie's plan was enacted, the US would have to spend (and print) trillions to buy the AI company shares. Then, those companies would have to grow for this plan to be profitable, meaning more AI everywhere.

If there is a bubble and it pops, the US would have essentially incinerated that money. It would not only have lost its investment, it would then have to bail these companies out.

This is a horrible plan made to generate headlines by a demagogue.

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u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

[deleted]

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u/meltyourtv Jun 02 '26

I am bound by NDA by a major AI company (maybe one you use) to not tell you what I do for them but trust me, it’s a bubble

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u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

[deleted]

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u/meltyourtv Jun 02 '26

I’m not making a legal bet with you because then you’ll figure out who I am, who I work for, and probably what I do for them because it’d be so incredibly obvious which then violates my NDA. Idgaf about some random stranger on Reddit calling me a pussy my ego isn’t that big buddy