NY lawmaker proposes an “AI Dividend” for job displacement risk

New York State Assembly member Alex Bores, running for U.S. Congress, has proposed an “AI Dividend” to protect workers if AI-driven automation reduces employment. Bores announced the plan on Monday and framed it as a contingency payment system triggered by real-world labor-market indicators. Under the AI Dividend framework, payouts would be activated if measures show sustained declines in labor force participation, wage compression in affected sectors, or rapid productivity gains from AI without corresponding job growth. If triggers are met, the program would deliver direct payments to Americans and fund workforce transition programs, education initiatives, and government oversight. The proposal does not specify the payment size or how often benefits would be paid. Bores argues that policy needs to be designed before large firms accumulate extraordinary wealth and displace workers at scale, warning that the political window for such measures may close later. Funding ideas mentioned in the framework include: a tax on AI usage measured in tokens, equity warrants that could allow the federal government to buy stakes in major AI companies if valuations rise, and tax reforms intended to shift incentives away from capital investment over wages. The announcement comes as major AI leaders—including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman, and Elon Musk—have warned about rapid labor disruption, particularly in white-collar and entry-level roles. Decrypt also notes prior disagreement among economists about whether AI would replace jobs, and cites new research suggesting skepticism is weakening.