Market2026-08-26

Bill Gates used a blog post to revive his call for taxing robots and AI usage, arguing that current US tax rules let firms deduct machines as expenses while payroll taxes make hiring people costlier. He proposed using the revenue for retraining and a stronger safety net, and setting aside some jobs for humans. The International Federation of Robotics rejected the idea, saying taxing production tools would harm competitiveness and employment. No government has acted on the proposal.

What changed

Gates' 2017 proposal covered robots only and gained little traction.

  • robot tax first proposed in 2017
  • South Korea's robot tax effective 2018

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