Wealth Tax vs Tech Titans: Bernie Sanders and Elon Musk Clash Over Billionaire Taxes and AI Inequality
As the debate over wealth inequality in the United States intensifies, US Senator Bernie Sanders and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk have found themselves at opposite ends of a familiar fault line: how much the ultra-rich should pay in taxes, and who bears the cost of rapid technological change.
Elon Musk, currently the world’s richest individual with an estimated net worth of around $619 billion according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, recently drew attention for a striking claim about his tax payments. Responding on X to criticism that the wealthy do not contribute enough, Musk said he paid “so much in taxes one year that it broke the IRS computer (actually). Too many digits. They had to update the software to get it processed.” The remark quickly went viral, reigniting arguments over whether billionaires already shoulder a disproportionate share of the tax burden.
Musk’s comments came just a day after Bernie Sanders delivered a sharp rebuke of billionaires and prominent tech leaders. Sanders warned that the United States is facing “a time of unprecedented and growing wealth and income inequality,” driven in part by the rapid advance of artificial intelligence and automation. According to Sanders, while technology continues to boost corporate profits and personal fortunes at the top, working Americans are experiencing growing economic insecurity.
In a post on X, Sanders accused the billionaire class of “greed, arrogance and irresponsibility,” arguing that inequality has reached a breaking point. He pointed to the reality that millions of Americans struggle to afford essentials such as housing, healthcare and food, even as wealth concentrates among a small elite. To address this imbalance, Sanders renewed his call for a national wealth tax on billionaires, saying it would ensure the richest Americans contribute more directly to public services and social support systems.
Sanders has also focused on the role of technology in reshaping the economy. As AI and automation accelerate, he has questioned why workers should bear the tax burden if machines increasingly replace human labour. He has argued that if machines end up doing the work, “the machines should pay.” Without intervention, Sanders warns, millions could be left with little or no income while corporations save money by replacing employees with machines that require neither wages nor benefits.
Not everyone agrees with Sanders’ approach. Critics of a wealth tax argue that billionaires already pay a disproportionate share of income taxes and that higher levies could discourage investment, innovation and economic growth. They also note that much billionaire wealth is tied up in assets like shares and company ownership, which are taxed differently from salaries and wages.
Musk himself has repeatedly cautioned against what he sees as punitive taxation. He has argued that heavy taxes risk slowing technological progress and punishing success. At the same time, he believes technology offers solutions rather than threats. Speaking earlier on the Nikhil Kamath Podcast, Musk said large-scale AI and robotics would be essential to solving America’s growing debt problem. “As long as civilisation keeps advancing, we will have AI and robotics at very large scale,” he said. “I think that’s pretty much the only thing that’s going to solve the US debt crisis.”
As automation reshapes the future of work, the clash between calls for redistribution and faith in technological progress is only set to grow louder.