Bill Gates once again calls for tax on robots, this time to save blue-collar jobs

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has once again advocated for a tax on robots, specifically to protect blue-collar workers in the wake of AI advancements. In an interview with The New York Times, published last week, Gates reiterated his stance from 2017, suggesting that any unit of labor, whether performed by a human or a robot, should be subject to the same payroll tax.

Gates argued that this approach would provide citizens with a financial safety net while maintaining government revenue through the US payroll tax system, known as FICA. The tax, which currently funds benefits like Social Security and Medicare, would apply equally to human and robotic labor. By treating autonomous machines as if they were human workers, Gates believes society can better prepare for the potential job displacement caused by AI and robotics.

During the interview, Gates also noted that physical robots are currently lagging behind AI systems in development, and that people often underestimate how quickly humanoid robots could catch up. He warned that the economic trend towards cheaper AI solutions does not mean society must adopt those lower-cost methods, emphasizing that it is still within society's power to support its workforce.

While Gates first proposed a robot tax in 2017, he still considers it a valuable part of a comprehensive response to the AI threat. He acknowledged that it is not the sole solution, but rather a valuable component of a wise strategy. Other tech leaders, such as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI, have also called for new taxation policies to ensure the benefits of AI are shared more widely and to mitigate potential disruptions caused by automated labor.