The Indicator from Planet Money
The Indicator from Planet Money

Should we tax AI?

June 10, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Should we tax AI?

The richest 26 Americans have seen their wealth grow an estimated 127% since November 2022, much of it tied to the AI boom. Meanwhile, most workers haven't seen big pay raises, and tech hiring has slowed. This disparity has prompted some lawmakers to ask whether AI itself should be taxed, with the revenue distributed as a direct "AI dividend" to the public. The question is whether that's the right tool for the job.

The case for an AI tax

New York congressional candidate Alex Boras, a computer scientist who has worked at machine learning startups, argues that AI is fundamentally different from previous technologies. "AI is the first technology ever developed where the makers of the technology are explicitly saying that they are trying to replace all human labor," he says. "Every other technology before was by default a complement to human beings, not a substitute."

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:00) **The AI Wealth Gap** - Introduces the core problem: AI could eliminate jobs, enrich a few, and create a permanent underclass, with data showing massive wealth growth for the richest Americans since ChatGPT launched.
  • 2 (02:25) **Alex Borris: The Candidate with a Plan** - Introduces the main proponent, a computer scientist and congressional candidate who wants to tax AI to fund a direct cash payment to Americans.
  • 3 (03:08) **Proposal 1: End AI Tax Deductions** - Borris argues current tax law incentivizes replacing humans with AI by allowing full deductions for AI costs while taxing human labor heavily.
  • 4 (03:49) **Proposal 2: The Token Tax** - Borris proposes a tax on the computational unit (tokens) used by large language models, effectively taxing commercial AI use.
  • 5 (04:58) **The Skeptic: Tax Expert Martha Gimbel** - Introduces the counter-argument from a tax policy expert who warns of unintended consequences.
  • 6 (05:39) **The Problem with a Token Tax** - Gimbel explains why a tax on AI inputs (tokens) is economically inefficient and poorly targeted.
  • 7 (06:50) **A Better Approach: Tax Profits, Not Tokens** - Gimbel argues for reforming existing corporate taxes and capital gains to capture AI-generated revenue, rather than a novel token tax.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Should we tax AI? The AI race has made a lot of people richer … but most of those gains seem to have gone to the wealthy while everyday workers aren't seeing their incomes go up. 

We speak with Democratic congressional candidate, Alex Bores, who wants to tax AI. Also, we talk to a tax expert who has her reservations. 

Fact checking by Tyler Jones. 

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