What happened
On 24 September 2026, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) introduced a bill creating an 'AI Horizon Fund' funded by three new taxes — on digital advertising revenues, AI-usage based on generated data, and 'excess profits' by AI firms — seeded with a $30 billion appropriation. Revenue would fund paid service-to-career pathways, small-business programs and increased unemployment benefits (minimum 75% wage replacement for 26 weeks), overseen by a council of AI, labor, higher-education and workforce experts. It follows Kelly's 22 September floor call for urgent congressional AI action.
Why it matters
The bill is the second major congressional effort (after Sanders') to redirect AI-company wealth to workers, framing the economic-reallocation side of the AI governance debate that will feature in the midterms. It also foreshadows potential tax treatment of AI usage and data for large deployers even if the bill itself does not advance.
Action needed
Large AI and digital-advertising firms should monitor the bill's proposed new taxes (digital-advertising, AI-usage and excess-profit levies) as a marker of how Congress is framing AI wealth redistribution; employers should watch the workforce-funding debate.