Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) slammed Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk‘s predictions about AI enabling a “universal high income.”
How Will Governments Fund Income, Asks Bernie Sanders
In a post on X on Saturday, Sanders had a “question” for Musk. “You tell us not to worry about the jobs that'll be wiped out by AI & robotics because the government will provide everyone with "universal high income,"” Sanders said.
He then asked how such a move would be possible. “How will that be paid for when you can't even support a 5% tax on your $817 billion in wealth?”
AI Job Losses
The comments come as Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) announced it was laying off over 8,000 employees from its workforce as an increasing number of companies invest in artificial intelligence. The 8,000 employees figure represented over 10% of its workforce.
The Mark Zuckerberg-led company also cancelled plans to fill over 6,000 open positions at Meta as it reported a $56.31 billion revenue and a net income of $26.8 billion during the first three months of 2026.
Meanwhile, lawmakers warned against the advent of AI and the risk to hundreds of thousands of jobs, with New York City Comptroller Mark Levine sharing a report that pointed toward a possible scenario that illustrated a loss of about 110,000 private-sector jobs by 2027 due to AI.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) launched a worker protection plan aimed at safeguarding jobs amid heavy investments into AI by tech companies.
Elon Musk Bets On Humans
Notably, Musk had earlier dismissed talks of AI driving job losses, saying that Tesla was planning on expanding its human workforce as artificial intelligence and robotics advancements boost productivity.
Musk was also hiring engineers with “zero AI experience” at SpaceX as the company gears up for its upcoming IPO, slated for a June listing.
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