Senator Bernie Sanders has now issued a sharp warning to Americans after reports that Jeff Bezos is raising a $100 billion fund to accelerate AI-driven manufacturing and robotics. In a series of posts shared on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) Sanders accused Amazon founder Jeff Bezos of attempting to replace human labour with machines on an unprecedented scale. “Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men on earth, is raising $100 billion to replace workers with robots around the world,” Sanders wrote. “The oligarchs want it all. Not going to happen. Stand up and FIGHT BACK. ”
Impact of AI automation on humans
In a video shared alongside his post, Sanders emphasized the risks to workers, saying: “It’s bad enough that he wants to replace virtually all of his Amazon warehouse workers with robots. But now he’s trying to raise $100 billion to automate factories and plants all over America and throughout the world. In other words, replace working people with robots. ”
Sanders urged Americans to organize and resist what he described as a “war against the working class.”
The warning from Sanders comes amid the increasing debate over the impact of artificial intelligence on employment. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also recently cautioned that AI could disrupt millions of jobs, noting that 150,000 of the bank’s employees already use AI weekly.
Economists estimate that up to 20% of the US workforce could be exposed to automation over the next decade, with transport, logistics, and manufacturing jobs most at risk.
Other lawmakers have also weighed in. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) unveiled his “AI for America” roadmap, aimed at guiding companies to implement AI responsibly, minimize job losses, and prioritize worker retraining. The plan underscores the need for corporations to balance innovation with worker protections as automation reshapes the economy.
Jeff Bezos plans to raise $100 billion for AI-driven manufacturing fund
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is reportedly in early talks to raise $100 billion for a new fund that would acquire manufacturing companies and seek to use AI technology to speed up automation. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Bezos is meeting with some of the world’s largest asset managers to raise funding for the project. The fund, reportedly called “manufacturing transformation vehicle” in investor documents, aims to buy companies in major industrial sectors such as chipmaking, defense and aerospace. The fund is expected to be larger than some of the world’s biggest buyout funds and could rival SoftBank’s $100 billion tech-focused Vision Fund.
The WSJ report states that Jeff Bezos has travelled to the Middle East to discuss the new fund with sovereign wealth representatives in the region. More recently, he went to Singapore to raise funding for the effort as well, according to people familiar with the matter. A New York Times report last year revealed that Jeff Bezos would serve as co-CEO of a new startup called Project Prometheus. The startup is reportedly aimed to focus on AI for engineering and manufacturing computers, automobiles and spacecraft.
