Robots Could Be Taxed In San Francisco Soon, Just As Bill Gates Wanted

Just to prove that Microsoft founder Bill Gates can still have a huge influence in the tech and legislative sectors, a robot tax could be enacted in San Francisco, California soon. This follows the billionaire’s plan to alleviate the economic impact of automation on workers who will be displaced by machines. By doing so, businesses might be less inclined to go completely human-free.

One of the biggest fears that workers have in the age of automation is being replaced by machines, and while millennials seem to be less worked up about the prospect, those of the older generation are not as blasé. In order to reduce the incentives of replacing human workers with robots, San Francisco City Supervisor Jane Kim is looking to tax businesses that do.

This development stems from a recent interview that Gates did with Quartz, in which, he espoused the possibility of making automation less appealing by making it more expensive. This could come in the form of a Robot Tax. Kim read this and thought that it was a good idea.

As a result, the city official is now speaking to tech experts and legislators in order to iron out the finer details of the tax. Once the tax is in place, the money could then be used to help workers displaced by machines through acquiring new skills or finding another means of gaining income, Fortune reports.

In light of this new initiative, it would seem that San Francisco is something of an odd center of commerce and innovation compared to the rest of the country. The city has invested heavily in marketing its numerous businesses employing robots but it also supported the increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

This has created something of a maelstrom of opposing forces within the city. Either one side wins or there will be an implosion.