Greg Casar Targets AI Profits With New Worker Protection Bill

During a press conference yesterday, Representative Greg Casar (D-TX) introduced a new bill to protect American workers from the threat of unemployment posed by the AI boom.

The AI Tax and Work Protection Act would impose a tax on large AI companies to fund a new Work Protection Administration, which would create jobs to help offset AI-related layoffs. The bill also aims to protect workers by eliminating the tax break companies receive when it automates jobs away.

“This bill says: we will not let AI billionaires get rich by putting you out of work,” Rep. Casar said. “Right now, the path we are on is clear: AI will turn a couple of billionaires into trillionaires but leave millions without work. That is unacceptable.”

This bill comes as local leaders and other members of Congress move to hold data centers accountable, which have become a focal point in debates over AI’s costs, from rising energy demands to the disruption of workers’ livelihoods. But Congress has yet to pass comprehensive legislation addressing AI-driven job loss.

With this bill, Rep. Casar would change that.

“Right now, the federal government is doing nothing to protect workers from the threat of AI mass unemployment,” he said. “Our bill would protect American workers by making big AI companies pay their fair share.”

Rep. Casar was also joined by Reps. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) and Sara Jacobs (D-CA), who both emphasized the need for Congress to step in amid the current AI shift.

“If Congress does nothing, the rise of AI could create the biggest wealth transfer in history from the bottom to the top,” Rep. Jacobs said. “Corporations are already laying off workers and raking in the profits from AI systems trained on human work – without ensuring workers share in those gains.”

Rep. Jacobs added that Congress must create guardrails for these companies and strengthen the social safety net so AI does not replace workers. Rep. Foushee agreed, reiterating that Congress should not slow the opportunities AI presents, but ensure workers benefit from the technology’s growth.

“Congress has a duty to ensure that this technology is not used to deepen wealth inequality, but instead that the economic benefits of AI are shared with working people,” she said.

Ultimately, she said AI should be helping, not hurting Americans.

“The rise of new technologies should be used to bring benefits to consumers and hardworking Americans,” Rep. Foushee said.