A June 2026 survey by Verasight of 1,690 US adults showed 69% support legislation forcing the largest AI companies to transfer 50% of their shares to a public sovereign wealth fund [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The proposed American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders the same month, would make half the shares of major AI firms publicly owned [1, 3, 4, 5]. Sanders said the bill "would guarantee that the economic benefits generated by AI are used to improve the lives of all of us — not simply to make the richest people in the world even richer" and warned that "the future of AI and the fate of humanity must not be decided behind closed doors in Silicon Valley by billionaires seeking to maximize their power and profit" [3].
The fund aims to broadly distribute AI industry profits to society as a whole. Benjamin Leff, CEO of Verasight, said, "In the eyes of the public, AI Sovereign funds are seen as a tool to distribute the gains from the AI industry back to broader society" [3]. Despite growing AI-related profits and investments, the US tech sector is experiencing rising layoffs [1, 3, 4, 5].
Goldman Sachs senior economist Joseph Briggs estimates about 9% of the US labor force, roughly 15 million workers, could lose jobs over the next decade due to AI transitions. However, Briggs expects these losses to be temporary as AI technologies create new job opportunities [3]. Sovereign wealth funds could also help finance AI infrastructure and claim a share of AI-driven gains. Still, experts note challenges remain in balancing public benefit with global market competition [3].
The Verasight survey results and details of Sanders' proposal were publicly reported on July 12, 2026, by multiple media outlets including CNBC and World Journal [1, 3, 4, 5].
