Andrew Yang says he will give his universal basic income proposal a pilot run.

During the third Democratic debate Thursday night, Yang announced he will use campaign funds to give $1,000 a month to 10 randomly selected Americans for a year — which is the policy he says he would enact if elected president. The campaign giveaway would total $120,000.

“When you donate money to a presidential campaign, what happens? The politician spends the money on TV ads and consultants, and you hope it works out,” Yang said during his opening statement.

“It’s time to trust ourselves more than our politicians,” he said. “Thats why I’m going to do something unprecedented tonight.”

In his opening statement, Andrew Yang says his campaign will give "$1,000 a month for an entire year to 10 American families." https://t.co/INdRXlIwFs #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/OaHnWWBDui — ABC News (@ABC) September 13, 2019


Yang has pitched his so-called Freedom Dividend — a form of universal basic income for all Americans over the age of 18 — to address the effects of “the biggest economic and technological transformation in the history of our country,” due to automation and artificial intelligence, which he says will eliminate jobs quicker than they can be replaced. The 44-year-old tech entrepreneur says it would be the simplest and most effective way to provide economic security to those displaced.

Some election law experts told Time that giving away campaign funds to people for their own personal use would violate campaign finance laws. However, Yang’s campaign says their lawyers have assured them their plans are fully compliant with Federal Election Commission regulations. Yang himself is already giving $1,000 a month to three families, in Florida, Iowa, and New Hampshire, respectively, for a year using his own personal money.

Yang’s announcement Thursday night was met with a degree of bemusement from his fellow Democrats on the debate stage. California Sen. Kamala Harris struggled to stop laughing.

“It’s original, I’ll give you that,” Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who was next to give his opening statement, remarked.

Individuals can enter for the chance to be selected as one of the 10 recipients of Yang’s dividend pilot on his campaign website by providing their name and email address (but they may also be signing up for fundraising emails).