Washington DC - Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has urged her fellow lawmakers to "tax AI" in an effort to instead "invest in people."
In an op-ed published in Time Magazine on Wednesday, Warren argued that while AI holds "tremendous promise," it could lead to "a level of wealth concentration that will break society" and create a "permanent underclass."
Warren pointed to several issues AI brings, such as data centers jacking up utility bills for nearby residents, rising possibilities for potential cyber attacks, and workers being laid off because of AI innovations.
She went on to argue that policymakers should "undoubtedly" regulate AI and stressed that it should begin by revamping "our rigged tax code."
Warren said AI companies should be taxed directly, with the amount being scaled on their overall impact, noting, "The bigger the data center, the more they pay."
The Massachusetts Senator's take comes as President Donald Trump and his administration have gone out of their way to cozy up to tech billionaires.
After winning re-election in 2024, Trump gained massive donations from tech leaders – including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon's Jeff Bezos – who have continued to publicly support him throughout his presidency.
The president has since become a proponent of advancing and lifting guardrails on AI in the US, claiming it creates "tremendous numbers of jobs" and is needed to compete with China.
Last week, Trump was scheduled to sign an executive order putting limits on powerful AI but postponed it at the last minute because he "didn't like certain aspects of it."