Bill Gates says companies that replace human labor with robots should have to pay the same FICA taxes

Bill Gates has proposed a robot tax to ensure that humans continue to receive fair compensation as their jobs are replaced by robots and AI. Speaking in an interview with Ezra Klein of The New York Times, Gates stated that a unit of labor should be defined and that both workers, human or robotic, should contribute to the same FICA taxes.

These taxes, which support Social Security and Medicare, would also generate government revenue. Gates fears that AI and robotics will cause a significant job displacement, particularly in white-collar roles. He argued that even though physical robots are currently lagging behind AI systems, humanoid robots are expected to catch up soon.

Gates also suggested that taxing AI tokens could slow the shift away from human labor and provide funds for retraining and expanding the social safety net. Similar ideas have been proposed by other tech leaders like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI. Gates reiterated his support for the robot tax in a recent essay, stating that it is part of a wise response to the AI threat but is not a complete solution.