Bill Gates has called for a robot tax and legally protected ‘Human Reserved’ jobs to counter AI-driven job displacement, while also floating direct taxes on AI tokens. The proposals were laid out in an essay published on his Gates Notes blog on August 26, 2026.
Gates argues the current tax system favors automation because employers pay payroll taxes on human workers but can often write off robot purchases immediately as business expenses. “The tax system nudges you toward replacing people with machines,” he wrote, adding that direct taxes on AI tokens and robots could preserve human jobs and generate government revenue as automation reduces income tax receipts and increases social safety net costs.
His second proposal would reserve certain roles for people even if machines could perform them. Examples include childcare, jury service, and delivering terminal medical diagnoses. Gates says the plan could protect up to 40% of jobs, while acknowledging the scope would evolve over time. He also stressed taxes must be designed to avoid blocking beneficial AI uses in education and healthcare.
The essay comes as concerns over AI job losses intensify; Cryptopolitan earlier cited a Morgan Stanley report showing British companies are cutting more jobs than they create due to AI.
