CME
Tax the robots, pay the people?
South Korea just tossed a spicy idea into the AI debate: one policymaker says the country should collect taxes on AI profits and use the money to pay citizens a kind of “dividend.” It’s part social policy, part political mic drop — and very much a reminder that when an industry starts minting money, lawmakers start reaching for the rulebook.
For investors, the headline isn’t that Korea is suddenly about to rewrite capitalism over lunch. It’s that AI is no longer just a growth story; it’s becoming a policy story. If governments start treating AI windfalls like something to be taxed, the economics of AI platforms, chips, and data-center operators could get a little less champagne-popping and a little more spreadsheet-y.
Meanwhile, CME wants in on the AI gold rush
In a separate but very on-brand move, CME — the giant derivatives exchange — is planning to launch a futures market for computing power. Translation: the thing powering the AI boom is getting its own trading lane. That’s classic Wall Street behavior: if something becomes important enough, somebody will try to wrap it in a contract and let traders bet on it.
This matters because it gives the AI supply chain a more formal price signal. If compute becomes a tradable commodity, it could shape how companies hedge costs, lock in supply, and think about margins. Big picture: AI isn’t just about bigger models anymore. It’s becoming a whole financial ecosystem, complete with taxes, markets, and probably a few headaches.