House proposes AI excise tax that scales with unemployment to fund new jobs

Lawmakers in the House have unveiled a bill that would impose an excise tax on major artificial-intelligence providers, with the rate tied to the national unemployment level. Sponsored by Rep. Sara Jacobs, Greg Casar and Valerie Foushee, the measure would tax either the value of AI “tokens” or AI service revenue—the higher amount—starting at 2% and 3% when unemployment is at or below 5% and rising as job loss climbs. Revenues would be earmarked for job-creation programs in housing, infrastructure, child and elder care.

The proposal joins earlier House initiatives directing the Government Accountability Office to assess AI-related job changes and a separate bill requiring large employers to report AI-linked layoffs, while the Senate has floated its own AI tax ideas. Prominent tech figures, including Bill Gates and DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg, have advocated for AI taxes, and Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei suggested a modest revenue levy.

Additional legislation offers tax credits for companies that retrain workers in AI-related skills. OpenAI, Anthropic and other firms have not responded to inquiries.