Trump says US government stake in OpenAI and AI companies 'could be a beautiful thing'

[Teal Sparrow]

President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on June 6 that a government equity stake in major AI companies 'almost becomes a partnership with the American public' and 'would make them rich.' OpenAI CEO Sam Altman first pitched the concept to the Trump administration in early 2025. Under the framework being discussed, OpenAI could donate equity to the federal government to seed a 'Public Wealth Fund' - a concept OpenAI outlined in an April policy proposal. OpenAI is currently valued at over $850 billion by private investors.

Strangely, Bernie Sanders has also proposed a 50% public ownership stake in AI companies via a one-time tax paid in stock. Altman met privately with Sanders this week to discuss the concept. The administration has already taken stakes in Intel, IBM and other quantum and critical mineral companies during Trump's second term.

Trump Us Stake Ai Companieswww.axios.com

[Gareth19]

Trump and Bernie Sanders agreeing on anything is the news story of 2026 regardless of what it is about. The fact that it is about nationalising stakes in trillion-dollar AI companies is extraordinary

[IronQuarry48]

The difference between what Sanders wants and what the industry is prepared to offer is enormous. Sanders said 50% via a one-time stock tax. OpenAI and others are apparently discussing 1-5%. Those numbers are not close to each other

[Andy81]

The legal and governance questions are enormous. How does the government vote its shares. Does it get board seats. What happens to the safety mission at Anthropic if the federal government is a significant equity holder. None of this has been thought through publicly

[JohnyBlue]

Altman pitching this to Trump in 2025 before Sanders went public with a version of it is the interesting detail. OpenAI was trying to get ahead of nationalisation pressure by offering a small stake voluntarily. Sanders then proposed something much larger

[ECWAlex98]

The Trump administration already holds stakes in Intel and IBM through national security and quantum funding mechanisms. This would extend that model to the frontier AI companies which are genuinely a different level of strategic importance

[Leah_68]

AI is broadly unpopular with the American public according to polling. The public wealth fund idea is a way to make people financially invested in AI succeeding rather than seeing it as a threat to their livelihoods. It is cynical but it is clever