TechCrunch reports that Bill Gates posted a long essay to his Gates Notes site on August 26, 2026, in which he proposes a robot tax on employers replacing workers with machines and designating certain jobs as Human Reserved. New York Post coverage attributes additional statements on permanent job losses and bioterrorism risks to the same essay, though those details remain unverified. Analyses from progressive, conservative, and libertarian perspectives differ on the appropriate policy response to AI-driven labor changes.