Trump Administration in Talks for Direct Government Stake in OpenAI

In a rare convergence, President Donald Trump, Senator Bernie Sanders, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have all signaled support for some form of public equity in AI companies — though they disagree sharply on how much. The Trump administration is in active talks with OpenAI about a government stake, Sanders wants a 50% stock tax on AI giants, and Altman has been privately pitching the idea to both parties for over a year.

"There's something very interesting about it, where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on June 5, as reported by Axios. "It's like you make them partners in this revolution. It would be a beautiful thing. It would make 'em rich."

According to TechCrunch, CNBC first reported the talks between the White House and OpenAI. Trump confirmed he's been discussing "concepts where pieces could be given to the American public, where the American public essentially becomes a partner with the companies."

The administration already has a precedent: it took a 10% stake in Intel last year. Trump told ¹ that executives from leading AI companies will visit the White House "probably next week" to discuss the proposal further. The idea has been privately championed by Altman since early 2025, per.³

Senator Bernie Sanders has unveiled the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would impose a one‑time 50% tax on leading AI companies — payable in stock, not cash. The targeted firms include OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. The government would receive voting shares and equal board representation, with fund proceeds going toward direct payments to Americans and social programs.

"Since AI is built on the collective knowledge of humanity, the wealth it generates must benefit humanity," Sanders wrote in a New York Times op‑ed cited by.⁴ "No longer would the future of AI be dictated by a handful of Big Tech oligarchs."

Sanders and Altman met for nearly an hour this week — a meeting Altman himself initiated. While Altman agreed on the principle of public equity in AI, he could not support the 50% figure, according to AP News. Sanders' spokesperson said Altman "did not commit to any of those" key demands.

OpenAI itself has proposed a Public Wealth Fund in its April 2026 policy paper, "Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age." As outlined by,² proceeds from the fund "could be distributed directly to citizens, allowing more people to participate directly in the upside of AI‑driven growth, regardless of their starting wealth or access to capital."

Industry advocates favor far smaller stakes — 1 to 5% contributions to a public fund, rather than Sanders' 50% tax. Trump told ¹ his administration is exploring options and noted that, economically, "we have certain things that aren't that far apart" with Sanders. Trump also linked the proposal directly to boosting AI's popularity: "by doing that, they're gonna like it better."

The sudden cross‑party momentum has several drivers. First, AI is broadly unpopular — a Gallup poll cited by Axios shows Americans oppose nearby data centers, and a Harvard Institute of Politics poll found 70% of college students see AI as a threat to job prospects.

Second, data center opposition is intensifying. States that once courted these facilities are reconsidering tax incentives, and Senator Josh Hawley (R‑Mo.) has called for a legislative halt on new data centers until they "pay for their own electricity, build their own grids and pay for their own water supply," per.³

Third, major stock offerings are expected from Anthropic, SpaceX, and OpenAI — companies poised to become trillion‑dollar entities. A public stake taken now would grow enormously if those valuations materialize.

The Trump administration's 10% stake in Intel provides the closest parallel, but AI ownership proposals go much further. Sanders' plan would give the government voting shares and equal board representation — effectively making the public a co‑owner with veto power over corporate decisions.

David Sacks, Trump's former AI and crypto czar, acknowledged the appeal of public AI ownership but warned it would accelerate "corporate‑government fusion," according to TechCrunch. The tension is clear: public ownership could democratize AI's benefits, but it also blurs the line between regulator and stakeholder.

Meanwhile, Congress has released a bipartisan framework for the first broad federal AI regulation, and Anthropic separately proposed mechanisms to coordinate pauses on advanced AI if systems become too powerful — a parallel push for governance from multiple directions.

The immediate impact is limited — these are negotiations and proposals, not enacted policy. But the direction matters enormously. If a government stake materializes, even at a modest percentage, it would establish a new relationship between AI companies and the state that could affect everything from model access to pricing to compute allocation.

For builders, the key signals to monitor: the outcome of next week's White House meeting with AI executives, the details of Sanders' legislation (expected in coming weeks), and how the proposed Public Wealth Fund interacts with OpenAI's commercial roadmap. A government equity stake could mean more stable, publicly‑accountable AI infrastructure — or it could introduce political constraints on what models can do and who can access them. Either way, the days of AI companies operating as purely private ventures may be numbered.