Bill Gates released a statement advocating a levy on artificial intelligence, a protected set of roles kept for people, and fresh organizations to guide the shift ahead. Speaking with GeekWire, he noted that sector executives voice worries in private settings yet stay silent in public forums. He first floated the robot tax idea in February 2017, coinciding with the European Parliament passing robotics rules that omitted any such levy.

Bill Gates observes that those developing AI express private alarm while remaining publicly reserved. "I know they are all worried. Or all of them that I know, which is basically everybody but Elon," he told GeekWire.

He is speaking out because of a memo issued this week. It claims the sector is breaching its own safety thresholds and that no one is readying for the consequences.

TNW examined the suggestions upon release. They include a tax on AI, certain jobs set aside for humans, and new bodies to steer the transition.

The discussion reveals details absent from the written memo. "Even lack of control that I thought would be many years from now, we are seeing lack of control," he said.

Regarding the tax, Gates is restating an earlier position. He first suggested taxing robots in February 2017, when the focus was factory automation instead of models, though the logic remained identical.

Europe addressed the matter that same month. The European Parliament approved rules for robotics by a vote of 396 to 123, with 85 abstentions, and the tax was absent from the final version.

The approved measures merit review. The resolution urged the Commission to assess member states social security frameworks amid growing robot use, reflecting the underlying issue behind the rejected remedy.

It also proposed something unusual. The adopted text suggested electronic personhood for advanced autonomous robots, a concept that has stalled since.

The rapporteur expressed disappointment. Mady Delvaux noted that certain groups in the Parliament had blocked an open discussion on workers, while the robotics sector praised the result.

Nine years later the stance remains unchanged. The AI Act addresses risk and mandates human oversight, and TNW has questioned if it can safeguard employment without hindering progress.

It fulfills neither of Gates stated aims. It does not impose a tax on a model, it does not protect categories of work for people, and no member state has advanced either measure.

The supporting data is less robust than either viewpoint concedes. TNW has pointed out that AI effects on jobs in Europe differ from broad statistics.

This returns to the memo core point. A figure who suggested this approach in 2017 is doing so once more, and Europe has already decided.