AI Is the New Oil—So Where Are the Dividends?
Every fall, Alaskans get a check in the mail. It’s not a rebate or welfare, it’s their share of the state’s oil wealth. Since 1982, Alaska has pooled oil revenues in a public trust fund, and every resident receives an annual dividend. The program is universal, simple, and politically bulletproof.
Now imagine applying that same idea to artificial intelligence.
AI is being called the new oil, the new electricity, the next industrial revolution. It’s generating enormous wealth, but that wealth comes from resources we all share: energy grids, water supplies, public infrastructure, and even our data. A handful of companies are capturing the profits, while everyday Americans see few direct benefits.
So here’s the question: if oil justified dividends for Alaskans, why shouldn’t AI justify dividends for all of us?
Senator Kelly’s AI Horizon Fund
Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona recently introduced a proposal called the AI Horizon Fund. It would collect contributions from AI companies, based on their resource use and profits, and reinvest them into:
Worker training and apprenticeships
Upgrades to water systems and the energy grid
AI safety and oversight programs
It’s a smart step. Kelly recognizes that AI shouldn’t be a free ride for corporations while communities bear the costs. But the Horizon Fund stops short of one key feature: it doesn’t give citizens a direct stake. The money goes to programs, not people.
Why Dividends Work
That’s where Alaska offers the real lesson. The genius of the Permanent Fund Dividend isn’t just that it pays people, it’s that it makes every resident an owner of their state’s natural wealth. Rich or poor, left or right, everyone gets a check. That universality is what makes the program so durable.
By contrast, targeted subsidies and training programs are constantly at risk of cuts, politics, and red tape. A universal dividend avoids those pitfalls. It’s fair. It’s visible. And it builds trust.
AI, like oil, is extracting from the commons. It’s consuming huge amounts of electricity and water, leaning on public infrastructure, and mining our digital footprints. If the value comes from the commons, then dividends should flow back to the people.
The Bigger Picture: The Prosperity Loop
The AI Horizon Fund could be the start of something much bigger. One proposal, called The Prosperity Loop, expands the Alaska model to the entire economy. Here’s how it works:
Commons Fees: Companies pay modest fees for using shared resources, carbon, water, spectrum, digital data, financial rents, and yes, AI data centers.
National Wealth Fund: Those fees go into a professionally managed public fund, which grows over time.
Freedom Dividend: A portion of the fund’s returns is paid annually to every citizen.
The idea is simple but powerful: instead of footing the bill for corporate innovation, Americans become co-owners of the wealth it generates.
Why Now?
The timing is critical.
Resource strain: AI data centers already use about 4% of U.S. electricity, and could reach 12% by 2030. Cooling them takes millions of gallons of water per day. Communities are being asked to sacrifice, without compensation.
Inequality: AI is making billionaires while many workers face layoffs or shrinking opportunities. Without a universal dividend, the gap will widen.
Trust: Only 41% of Americans say they trust AI. Without a fair way to share the benefits, public backlash could stall progress.
A universal dividend addresses all three: it charges companies for what they take, shares wealth with households, and builds legitimacy.
A Pilot Worth Trying
Senator Kelly’s fund could be the perfect pilot. Start by collecting contributions from AI firms. Put them into a trust. And instead of just funding programs, pay out a small dividend to every American.
That experiment would prove the concept: commons-based contributions can circulate back to citizens in a transparent, durable way. From there, the model can expand to other resources, carbon, finance, land, and more.
The New Social Contract
The missing infrastructure of today’s AI boom isn’t just servers or power lines. It’s trust. And trust comes when people see they’re not just spectators, but shareholders in progress.
If oil justified dividends in Alaska, AI justifies dividends for America. Kelly’s Horizon Fund is a good start, but we can think bigger: a Prosperity Loop that turns commons fees into national wealth and dividends for all.
That’s more than policy. It’s a new social contract for the AI age, one where prosperity is not only promised, but shared.