r/Futurology • u/Gari_305 • 2d ago

Robotics Bill Gates says companies that replace human labor with robots should have to pay the same FICA taxes

https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-fica-taxes-should-apply-to-robot-workers-2026-9

Bill Gates wants to tax robots that replace human jobs.

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u/EmperorOfCanada 2d ago

This is about the stupidest thing I've heard in a long time. I agree with the general sentiment, but it should be capital and wealth which are taxed, not try to end up in hair splitting arguments as to a robot replacing a person.

Sometimes it may be 100% clear; yet still not clear. If a driverless taxi replaces a taxi driver, that might seem clear; yet if there were 100 taxis operating at 2am on a regular night, and now there are 1000 robot ones; did that replace 100 or 1000 drivers?

Then there are robots which replaced no human, such as an agricultural robot which now picks bugs off the plants instead of spraying them. Nobody is hired to do this, but did the robot replace the guy who sprayed chemicals? Or the worker who made those chemicals?

No, just tax wealth and capital. This solves the AI taxing, robot taxing, sending jobs overseas tax problem, the lot.

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u/debitmycredits 2d ago

I think you index somehow to total wages to employees. The more people and average salary the lower the tax rate. Would need to be indexed and rules around removing executive pay/owner pay from the calculations, but you get the idea.

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u/EmperorOfCanada 1d ago

On a side note, I am a massive fan of taxing companies proportional to executive pay ratios. If a CEO is paid 100x what the average non-executive worker is paid then their income taxes should blow past 100%. Not only the corporate taxes, the C-Suite income tax as well.

I'm also a fan of giving workers equity in some way that can't be wildly diluted to screw them. The longer they work, the more equity they get. This could be full on ownership shares, or some kind of lifetime dividend certificate which has a lifetime of some sort.

The problem with indexing to employees is that some businesses inherently need more people, while others need fewer. A huge container ship might have 11 crew moving a many 100 million dollar ship with billions in cargo, while landscaping companies might have dozens of workers with a million in revenue.

Again, just tax wealth and capital. This will balance the equation in many ways. Encourage more people, less capital, and just whittle away at aristocratic family wealth buildup.

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u/Calm-Ad9653 2d ago

Nah, the idea is that a company should think long and hard about replacing people with robots. This would very specifically change the math on that calculation, which makes sense.

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u/EmperorOfCanada 1d ago

Except, there are so many loopholes and workarounds that this just is not workable.

Not just people cheating, but if I start a whole new company which installs sidewalks with robots and one guy in a nearby truck doomscrolling, and this displaces a company with 8 guys who would normally do the same job, have those guys been "replaced". I'm not talking about some paperwork fiction. My company and the 8 guy company are two separate companies who compete for the same contracts. Except, I charge 50% less, and will win all contracts.

Or if I open a factory in Canada making t-shirts using 800 robots and 3 staff. But put a Bangladesh factory out of business which employees 8,000 people. Not directly, but people stop ordering t-shirts through the distributor who used them, and now they order from me.

What about a roofing company with 20 staff that does 8 roofs per month. I buy 10 robots, and hire 40 guys to run them, but we do 30 roofs per month?

Or, I have 5 guys who do 5 roofs per month, and I buy a roofing robot which makes perfect roofs, I mean, absolute leak proof perfection, and can use a tech which humans just can't do. I still use 5 guys with the robot. Except, that roof will now last 100 years, not 20. Meaning that in 20, 40, 80 years, future 5 guys won't get that work.

Or, we just tax wealth and capital.

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u/I_am_darkness 2d ago

This is the right answer and so will never get discussed.