Bill Gates calls for governments to introduce a “robot tax” on AI systems and robots, arguing it would discourage companies from replacing workers too quickly. He also proposes creating a category of “human reserved” jobs that employers are not allowed to automate or replace.
Across coverage, the central idea is to mitigate potential harms from AI on the labor market by changing incentives for firms. TechCrunch and other outlets describe Gates as broadly aligned with “responsible AI” approaches, while noting that some of his specific proposals—such as treating certain roles as off-limits—are presented as newer concepts. Yahoo Finance and Decrypt both frame the plan around taxing AI/robots and establishing protections for certain employment roles.
The outlets differ mainly in phrasing and emphasis, but they converge on Gates’s proposal to pair economic disincentives (taxation) with regulatory limits on automation for designated “human reserved” roles, aiming to reduce job displacement risks.
