Sen. Bernie Sanders is warning that artificial intelligence and automation are being used to make billionaires richer while putting millions of American workers at risk of losing their jobs.
In an opinion piece published by Fox News, Sanders named Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos among those investing heavily in AI and robotics.
He questioned whether their goal is to help struggling Americans or to increase their wealth and power.
“The result? The wealthiest people get richer. Working people lose their income,” Sanders said in a post on X. He added that “AI must benefit workers, not just the 1%.”
Sanders warned that unless strong action is taken, AI and automation could replace tens of millions of jobs across industries.
He cited examples such as Amazon’s use of over a million warehouse robots, Foxconn’s shift to automated factories, and the spread of driverless vehicles already operating in cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin.
Millions Of Jobs At Risk
According to a report from the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, AI, automation, and robotics could replace nearly 100 million jobs in the U.S. over the next decade.
That includes 40% of registered nurses, 47% of truck drivers, 64% of accountants, 65% of teaching assistants, and 89% of fast food workers.
He pointed to comments from industry leaders to show the seriousness of the threat.
Ford CEO Jim Farley predicted that AI could wipe out half of all white-collar jobs in the U.S. within ten years.
Elon Musk has said, “Probably none of us will have a job,” while Bill Gates recently stated that humans “won’t be needed for most things” like manufacturing or food production in the near future.
Sanders Calls For A Fairer Future
Sanders said work plays a major role in people’s sense of purpose and belonging, and warned that widespread job losses could seriously affect how we live and connect with each other.
To help workers benefit from rising productivity, he laid out a few proposals: shift to a 32-hour workweek without cutting pay, give workers seats on company boards, expand profit sharing, and promote employee ownership.
He also called for a “robot tax” on corporations that replace workers with machines, using that revenue to support displaced employees.
“The goal is to make sure the new technologies serve human needs and not just further enrich a small number of multi-billionaires,” Sanders wrote.
He concluded that the rise of AI and robotics will reshape the U.S., but that transformation “must benefit all of us, not just a handful of billionaires.”
IMAGE CREDIT: “Bernie Sanders” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.