00:00Hey, everybody. Thanks very much for joining me.
00:03I probably don't need to tell you that artificial intelligence will almost certainly be the most transformational technology in the
00:13history of the world.
00:15It will profoundly affect the lives of every man, woman, and child in our country and, in fact, throughout the
00:23world.
00:23It is already bringing significant changes to our economy, our democracy, our emotional well-being, our environment, and how we
00:35educate and raise our kids.
00:37There is also a very real fear that as AI becomes smarter than human beings, it could eventually function independent
00:47of human control with potentially catastrophic consequences.
00:52The question is not whether AI will change the world. It will.
00:58The question is who will own and control that future, who will benefit from it, and who will be hurt
01:07by it.
01:08Will AI be used to make life better for working families?
01:13Will it help us eliminate poverty, extend life expectancies, and help us solve the climate crisis?
01:21Or will the future of humanity be determined by a handful of billionaires who have developed AI to become even
01:31richer and more powerful than they are?
01:34That is the fundamental choice before us.
01:39And let us be clear.
01:41AI was not created out of thin air.
01:45Now, the foundation of AI is our collective human intelligence.
01:51Let me repeat that.
01:53The foundation of AI is our collective human intelligence.
01:59Our books, songs, artwork, journalism, computer code, scientific research, videos, conversations, images, and ideas spanning generations.
02:09As Sam Altman himself acknowledged, AI models were trained on our, quote, collective experience, knowledge, and learnings of humanity, end
02:21quote.
02:22The reality is that big tech oligarchs have fed this knowledge into their AI models without permission, acknowledgement, or compensation.
02:33In other words, the creative work of millions and hundreds of millions of people has been stolen by the wealthiest
02:43people in the world.
02:45The time has come to reclaim what was stolen from us.
02:51Since AI is built on the collective knowledge of humanity, the wealth it generates must benefit humanity, not just Elon
03:01Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Elson, and other billionaires.
03:07Or the venture capitalists and Wall Street firms who see AI as the next great wealth extracting machine.
03:17And that is why in the coming weeks, I will introduce the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act.
03:25This legislation would give the public a direct ownership stake in the largest AI companies in America through a one
03:34-time 50% tax, not on profits, but on stock.
03:40It would do two extremely critical things.
03:45First, it would give the American people a direct role in determining the future of this technology.
03:54No longer would the future of AI be dictated by a handful of big tech oligarchs while the rest of
04:01the world sits back and watches them do what they want.
04:06Secondly, it would guarantee that the trillions potentially created by AI are used to improve the lives of all of
04:15us, not simply to make the richest people on Earth even richer.
04:20And I have to tell you, this is not an original idea.
04:24OpenAI has proposed creating a public wealth fund to give every citizen a stake in AI-driven economic growth.
04:33Anthropoc has proposed national sovereign wealth funds with stakes in AI.
04:38Elon Musk has said direct federal payments are the best response to AI-driven unemployment.
04:45Over 100 sovereign wealth funds already exist worldwide.
04:52Norway used its oil wealth to create a $2 trillion public fund.
05:00Alaska created a sovereign wealth fund that has paid dividends directly to residents for a decade.
05:07Every year, people in Alaska get a piece of the action from their oil revenue.
05:12Even President Trump has proposed establishing a United States sovereign wealth fund.
05:21The billions, if not trillions, generated by this legislation would provide direct payments to the American people
05:30and help guarantee health care, education, and housing as human rights.
05:37The principle is quite simple.
05:39When a public resource generates wealth, the public should share in that wealth.
05:46Artificial intelligence is being built on a public resource far more valuable than oil.
05:53It is the accumulating knowledge, creativity, and labor of all of humanity.
05:59Bottom line, the future of AI must not be decided behind closed doors in Silicon Valley.
06:06It must not be dictated by billionaires seeking to maximize their power and profits.
06:14It must be decided by workers, parents, teachers, artists, scientists, communities, and the American people.
06:23It is our future.
06:26We must decide it.
06:27Let's get it done.
06:29Let's get it done.
06:29Thank you very much.
06:30In fact, throughout the world, it will bring, and it is already bringing, unimaginable changes to our economy,
06:40to our democracy and political system, to our emotional well-being, to the health of our children,
06:49to our environment, and to how we educate and raise our kids.
06:56Further, there is a very real fear that as AI becomes smarter than humans,
07:03it could eventually function independent of human control with potentially catastrophic consequences.
07:11That's not me.
07:13That is what Nobel Prize scientists and experts are saying.
07:18Madam President, the question then is not whether AI will change the world.
07:25It will.
07:26The question is who will own and control the future.
07:32Who will benefit from AI and who will be hurt by it.
07:37Will AI be used to make life better for working families?
07:43Will it enrich our quality of life?
07:47Will it help us eliminate poverty, extend life expectancies, and help us solve the climate crisis?
07:57Or will the future of humanity be determined by a handful of some of the wealthiest people on the planet
08:06who have promoted and developed AI with no democratic input in order for them to become even richer
08:16and more powerful than they are today?
08:20That is the choice before us.
08:24Let us be clear.
08:27AI was not created out of thin air.
08:31It was not a brilliant idea that just popped into Mark Zuckerberg's head or Elon Musk's imagination.
08:41The foundation of AI is our collective human intelligence.
08:48Let me repeat that.
08:50The foundation of AI is based on our collective human intelligence.
08:57Our books, songs, artwork, journalism, computer code, scientific research, videos, conversations,
09:08images, and ideas spanning generations.
09:13It is our tweets, our Facebook posts, our TikTok videos, our Reddit comments.
09:19It is everything that human beings produce and that is absorbed into the digital world.
09:28That's not just my opinion.
09:31According to Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI,
09:35AI models were trained on our, quote,
09:39collective experience, knowledge, and learnings of humanity.
09:44That is, Mr. Altman, the head of OpenAI.
09:49The reality is that big tech oligarchs have fed this knowledge into their AI models
09:56without permission, without acknowledgement, and without compensation.
10:03In other words, the creative work of many millions of people,
10:08writers, artists, musicians, journalists, teachers, scientists,
10:12and ordinary people, has been stolen,
10:16has been stolen by the wealthiest people in the world.
10:21Madam President, the time has come for us to reclaim what was stolen from us.
10:29Since AI is built on the collective knowledge of humanity,
10:33the wealth it generates must benefit humanity.
10:37Not just Elon Musk, not just Jeff Bezos,
10:42not just Mark Zuckerberg, or Larry Ellison,
10:45and the other multi-billionaires who have invested hundreds of billions
10:50into the development and implementation of AI.
10:55Not the venture capitalists in Silicon Valley
10:59or the vulture funds on Wall Street
11:01who see AI as the next great wealth-extracting machine.
11:06And that is why, Madam President, in the coming weeks,
11:09I will be introducing the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act.
11:15This legislation would give the public a direct ownership stake
11:20in the largest AI companies in our country.
11:24How would it do that?
11:26Through a one-time 50% tax,
11:29not on the profits of the largest AI companies in the U.S.,
11:34but something that is far more valuable than that, the stock.
11:39If passed, this legislation would do two critical things.
11:43First, it would give the American people a direct role
11:47in determining the future of this technology.
11:51No longer would the future of AI and the transformation of human life
11:56that it will bring be dictated by a handful of big tech oligarchs.
12:02These people do not have the right to determine the future of humanity.
12:09Under this bill, the federal government would have the power,
12:12through its voting shares and an equal representation on each company's board,
12:18to block decisions that hurt the public
12:21and to push for policies that help them.
12:24Secondly, this legislation would guarantee that the trillions of dollars
12:29potentially created by AI are used to improve the lives of all of us,
12:36not simply to make the richest people in the world even richer.
12:41Further, if these AI companies continue to grow
12:44as dramatically as many analysts expect,
12:48then the value of the Sovereign Wealth Fund created under this bill
12:52would grow as well.
12:54And the benefits to the American people would grow along with it.
12:59Madam President, let us be clear.
13:02This is not an original idea.
13:06In fact, it is an idea that has been endorsed
13:09by some of the leading AI companies in America.
13:13For example, OpenAI recently proposed creating a, quote,
13:18public wealth fund that provides every citizen,
13:21including those not invested in financial markets,
13:24with a stake in AI-driven economic growth.
13:27Anthropic also proposed the creation of, quote,
13:31national sovereign wealth funds with stakes in AI, end quote.
13:35Elon Musk, the owner of XAI, went further
13:38and said that, quote,
13:41universal high income via checks issued by the federal government
13:45is the best way to deal with unemployment caused by AI, end of quote.
13:51And Madam President, let us not forget,
13:54over 100 sovereign wealth funds exist all over the world.
14:00Again, this is not a new idea.
14:03Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world,
14:07was funded from the country's abundance in oil
14:10and is now worth more than $2 trillion.
14:15Instead of a few oil executives pocketing all the benefits of that natural resource,
14:22Norway made the decision that the wealth created from it
14:25should be used to improve life for all of their people.
14:29This concept also exists right here in the United States.
14:35Fifty years ago, Alaska created a sovereign wealth fund from the state's oil revenues.
14:42And for decades, it has paid dividends directly to Alaskans.
14:47In 2022, that check was over $3,000 per person.
14:52In 2023, it was $1,300 per person.
14:56In 2024, it was $1,700.
14:59And last year, it was $1,000.
15:01This is a direct check coming from a sovereign fund in Alaska
15:06to the people of that state.
15:08And even President Trump, in an executive order,
15:12has proposed establishing a United States sovereign wealth fund.
15:18Madam President, the billions, if not trillions of dollars generated by this legislation
15:24would provide direct payments to the American people.
15:29Further, as the fund generates more and more wealth,
15:32the proceeds would be used to ensure that every man, woman, and child in our country
15:37has a decent and dignified standard of living,
15:41including health care, education, and housing.
15:45The principle behind this legislation is simple.
15:50When a public resource generates wealth,
15:53the public should share in that wealth.
15:57In this case, artificial intelligence
15:59intelligence is being built on a public resource far more valuable than oil.
16:05The accumulated knowledge, creativity, and labor of humanity throughout history.
16:12That is what AI is all about.
16:15Bottom line, the future of AI and the fate of humanity
16:19must not be decided behind closed doors
16:23in Silicon Valley by the wealthiest people in the world.
16:28It must not be dictated by billionaires seeking to maximize their power and their profit.
16:35It must be decided by workers, parents, teachers, artists, scientists, communities,
16:42and the American people.
16:44It is our future.
16:46We must decide it.
16:48Let's get it done.
16:49Thank you very much.
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