Sarah Polcz
@polcz.bsky.social
Prof of Law @UCDavis | Thinking about AI, copyright law and the psychology of creative collaboration. https://law.ucdavis.edu/people/sarah-polcz
“The dominant AI tools are owned by only a few companies, lack transparency, are everywhere and fast spreading, in a market context in which wealth inequality and democracy deficit are peaking.” Highly recommend reading the full piece here: www.accountableaiforum.com/p/this-is-ho...
This is How AI Destroys Institutions
Woodrow Hartzog and Jessica Silbey
accountableaiforum.com
Here is a (more) accessible summary of my new work with A. Feder Cooper and others expanding memorization research from verbatim extraction of content from AI models to include extraction of works that are similar but not identical afedercooper.info/near-verbatim/
How much more extraction risk do we find when we count near-verbatim cases?
Measuring near-verbatim probabilistic extraction reveals significantly more extraction risk than its verbatim counterpart.
afedercooper.info
@polcz.bsky.social had a great conversation with the Majority Report about Bernie Sanders' "sovereign wealth fund" legislation that take equity share of these companies without any buy in and promises no bail outs.
MR FUN | 9/1/26
YouTube video by The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder
youtube.com
Will Stancil@whstancil.bsky.social · last mo.The reality is this: progressives have an affective hatred of data centers because they don’t like the companies associated with them. Because of that they feel obligated to argue, absurdly, that the extremely substantial tax revenues from data centers are somehow poisoned or undesirable.
One thing almost no one is talking about is how much the "AI bubble" is encouraged by the "promise" of wild profits [as long as several times more people are willing to PAY than currently use 'AI' for free or substantially subsidized]. A "nationalization" that empowers voters, not governments helps.
Sarah Polcz @polcz.bsky.social · last mo.I enjoyed talking to The Majority Report podcast this morning about the potential of AI equity taxes and my work with @bearerfriend.bsky.social on Senator Sanders' American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act in particular! @majorityreport.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3uH...
This call for democratic control of the AI frontier is so important! But why does @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social completely ignore the already introduced @sanders.senate.gov legislation that gives control of systemically important AI firms to the public? S.4825 does this!!
Ezra Klein@ezrakleinbot.bsky.social · 3w agoI haven’t weighed in yet on the new mountain of AI safety concerns, but to me it further elevates the case for an AI tax paid with stock. Depending on the tax rate, the public could, quite literally, be put in control. And not via the Pentagon, but a nonpartisan board created by Congress.
Forbes@forbes.com · 4w agoAmodei made the remarks on CBS Sunday Morning, one day after calling for AI companies to slow down their frontier research.
Voting is still legal, 7-2 Alito and Thomas will do anything to keep Republicans in power. Very happy to see the rest of the Court didn't go along www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
supremecourt.gov
This was awesome!! Thank you Sarah!!
Sarah Polcz @polcz.bsky.social · last mo.I enjoyed talking to The Majority Report podcast this morning about the potential of AI equity taxes and my work with @bearerfriend.bsky.social on Senator Sanders' American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act in particular! @majorityreport.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3uH...
@polcz.bsky.social has a video interview with majority report on the sovereign wealth fund. Difference is that regular tax on corporations historically is easy to pass on to consumer but taking (not buying) equity shares ensure if any money is made the government gets a slice, and no bailouts
I enjoyed talking to The Majority Report podcast this morning about the potential of AI equity taxes and my work with @bearerfriend.bsky.social on Senator Sanders' American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act in particular! @majorityreport.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3uH...
MR FUN | 9/1/26
YouTube video by The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder
youtube.com
I wanted to learn more about @sanders.senate.gov's proposal for taxing the shares of AI companies, so I went to the academics that helped inspire the proposal. Here's my conversation with @bearerfriend.bsky.social and @polcz.bsky.social. www.firesidestacks.com/p/bernies-ai...
How Bernie’s AI tax idea came to be (with Jeremy Bearer-Friend + Sarah Polcz)
Meet the experts who put AI public equity stakes on the map.
firesidestacks.com
I propose a law that says if any individual or group spends more than $1 million to support a candidate or initiative, the state funds the opponents the same amount, dollar for dollar. Elon Musk may have a constitutional right to try to buy elections, but we could make it uneconomic for him to try
NEW: Our @toddntucker.com interviews @bearerfriend.bsky.social and @polcz.bsky.social on how their research helped inspire Bernie Sanders’s AI tax proposal. They make the case for public ownership of AI and explain what it could mean for workers, creators, and the public. ⬇️
How Bernie’s AI tax idea came to be (with Jeremy Bearer-Friend + Sarah Polcz)
Meet the experts who put AI public equity stakes on the map.
firesidestacks.com
We enjoyed doing this interview with the Roosevelt Institute about the AI Equity Tax framework and Senator Sanders' American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund! @bearerfriend.bsky.social
Roosevelt Forward@rooseveltforward.org · 2mo agoNEW: Our @toddntucker.com interviews @bearerfriend.bsky.social and @polcz.bsky.social on how their research helped inspire Bernie Sanders’s AI tax proposal. They make the case for public ownership of AI and explain what it could mean for workers, creators, and the public. ⬇️
Is taxing tokens or AI data center energy use really going to be enough to protect workers? And compensate the public for AI theft? See the latest in @bloombergtax.com about these questions: news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insights...
Taxing AI to Help Workers Sounds Good, But Public Deserves More
Opinion: A proposed tax on artificial intelligence tokens shows why taxing AI use is a poor proxy for taxing automation. Lawmakers should instead give the public an equity stake in the firms that capt...
news.bloombergtax.com
Had a nice chat with @GWToday about my AI research with @polcz.bsky.social They summarize our paper here: gwtoday.gwu.edu/ask-gw-exper...
Ask a GW Expert: How Could Tax Policy Mitigate Harms Caused by Artificial Intelligence? | GW Today | The George Washington University
Jeremy Bearer-Friend, associate professor of law, has proposed a sovereign wealth fund using stock shares from AI firms, attracting interest from U.S. senators.
gwtoday.gwu.edu
And now maybe California can be the one to enact the AI equity tax…
A tax paid with stock, not just cash, offers many lessons far beyond just AI. Take a look!
LPE Blog@lpeblog.bsky.social · 3mo agoToday, @bearerfriend.bsky.social and @polcz.bsky.social argue their AI equity tax proposal both curbs AI risk and shows how creative tax policy can advance the Left's broader agenda.
Today, @bearerfriend.bsky.social and @polcz.bsky.social argue their AI equity tax proposal both curbs AI risk and shows how creative tax policy can advance the Left's broader agenda.
What A Tax On AI Can Teach The Left
The rise of AI demands legislative action to mitigate its many risks. But rather than follow the same old regulatory playbook, Congress should instead embrace creative tax policy.
lpeproject.org
According to @cnbc.com, "A remarkable 69% of Americans support requiring AI firms to transfer 50% of their stock to a public fund.” I think we're gonna win this @polcz.bsky.social!
Majority of U.S. workers support an AI wealth fund as tech layoffs surge, survey finds
A majority of U.S. employees now want an AI sovereign wealth fund to hold corporations more accountable, according to a recent survey, as tech layoffs rise.
cnbc.com
Thanks @taxnotes.com for contextualizing the AI Equity Tax that @bearerfriend.bsky.social and I propose against historical depression-era tax proposals! I learned a lot about tax history
Our AI Equity Tax framework is now positioned as the *moderate* tax response to AI, in Reuven Avi-Yonah's analysis: "The Bearer-Friend and Polcz proposal is a good beginning, but it may be that stronger solutions such as the public utility approach of the New Deal are necessary"
Wow! Honored to have the AI Equity Tax @bearerfriend.bsky.social and I proposed covered *twice* this week by @taxnotes.com, the journal of record in tax, read by practitioners, academics, and gov officials. Thanks for the thoughtful engagement with our work
The public is entitled to a share of these companies, but not like this. This is just corruption. A bribe. A backroom quid prop quo deal. Taxes aren’t voluntary. And they aren’t case by case. Time to tax large AI firms with a payment made in stock.
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 3mo agoGood morning, New York. While you were sleeping, this FT exclusive was the most-read story ft.trib.al/fdWHCmU
This week on the Stanford Legal Podcast, @polcz.bsky.social and I discuss how large AI firms should pay a tax with stock, not just cash. Check it out! law.stanford.edu/stanford-leg...
The Case for a Public Share in AI | Stanford Law School
law.stanford.edu
Jeremy Bearer-Friend and I spoke with The Information about collaborating on our AI equity tax idea and the bill it inspired, introduced last week by Sen. Sanders. Ignore the title: it's every bit as much Prof. Bearer-Friend's brainchild. We're thrilled to see all the conversations it is starting!
The Information@theinformation.com · 4mo agoSanders’ new AI bill would create a $7 trillion public wealth fund, and one of its intellectual architects is a law professor embedded in Silicon Valley’s tech elite. Full story: https://thein.fo/3QStnYy
And now the AI Tax has been introduced in the United States Senate by @sanders.senate.gov. What a day. Full 38 page legislative text and bill summary below. www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releas...
NEWS: Sanders Introduces Legislation to Create $7 Trillion AI Sovereign Wealth Fund » Senator Bernie Sanders
This Bill Would Give the American People, Not Oligarchs, Control Over the Future of AI WASHINGTON, June 18 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act to g...
sanders.senate.gov
