Trump Floats US Equity Stakes in AI Giants: 'It Would Be a Beautiful Thing'
President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he is interested in the US government holding equity stakes in leading artificial intelligence developers, remarks first reported by Bloomberg late June 5 t.
At a glance
- Trump said a US government stake in AI companies 'almost becomes a partnership with the American public' and 'would be a beautiful thing'
- The administration and OpenAI are discussing a possible government stake in the startup, per CNBC
- OpenAI could donate equity to seed a 'Public Wealth Fund' for citizens, per reports
- Sam Altman has pushed the idea with the administration over the past year
- The remarks followed Bernie Sanders' June 1 op-ed proposing a one-time 50% tax on AI firms payable in stock
VERDICT — CONFIRMED
President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he is interested in the US government holding equity stakes in leading artificial intelligence developers, remarks first reported by Bloomberg late June 5 that rippled across coverage on June 6. 'There's something very interesting about it, where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public,' Trump said, adding, 'It would be a beautiful thing.' He said he planned to discuss the partnership idea with AI companies' executives. CNBC reported the administration and OpenAI are discussing a possible government stake in the startup — an idea OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has pushed with the administration over the past year.
Under one construct reported by TechCrunch, OpenAI could donate equity to the US government to seed a 'Public Wealth Fund' that would enable citizens to participate in the upside of AI growth, possibly by receiving the fund's returns directly. The comments landed days after Senator Bernie Sanders proposed, in a June 1 New York Times op-ed, the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act — a one-time 50% tax on leading AI companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI, payable in stock — creating an unusual left-right convergence on public ownership of frontier labs.
Axios headlined the development: U.S. stake in AI giants 'could be a beautiful thing.'
Why it matters
with both the White House and the Senate's left flank now endorsing government equity in frontier labs, public ownership has jumped from fringe proposal to live policy risk for every AI company heading toward the public markets.
Key facts on file
- Trump said a US government stake in AI companies 'almost becomes a partnership with the American public' and 'would be a beautiful thing'
- The administration and OpenAI are discussing a possible government stake in the startup, per CNBC
- OpenAI could donate equity to seed a 'Public Wealth Fund' for citizens, per reports
- Sam Altman has pushed the idea with the administration over the past year
- The remarks followed Bernie Sanders' June 1 op-ed proposing a one-time 50% tax on AI firms payable in stock
