The Trump administration may take an equity stake in OpenAI

President Donald Trump said Friday that he has spoken to AI companies about making deals “where the American people can benefit from the success of AI.”

Trump doesn’t appear to have mentioned specific companies in his comments, but OpenAI is a likely candidate, especially after CNBC reported that The Trump administration has already been discussing an equity stake With an artificial intelligence company.

Some of these shares could be used to create a “public wealth fund,” CNBC said. It was recently proposed by OpenAI. As the company explains, the proceeds from the fund “can be distributed directly to citizens, allowing more people to participate directly in the upside of AI-driven growth, regardless of their initial wealth or access to capital.”

According to Bloomberg, when reporters boarded Air Force One Trump asked about the ideaHe responded that he was talking to AI executives about “concepts where the pieces could be brought to the American public, where the American public becomes an essential partner with the companies.”

Bloomberg also reports that CEO Sam Altman has been discussing the idea of ​​a government stake in major AI companies as early as 2025.

This appears to be in keeping with Trump’s broader interest in government ownership of for-profit companies – most notably… The government takes a 10% stake. At struggling chipmaker Intel last year.

The idea has also found some traction on the left, with Sen. Bernie Sanders this week – Proposed one-time tax of 50% Companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI (which… Part of SpaceX) will be paid in stock.

With all of these companies likely to go public this year, Sanders said this tax would “give the public a direct role in determining the future of this technology” and “ensure that the trillions of dollars that AI potentially generates are used to improve the lives of every one of us.”

David Sachs, an investor who recently… He stepped down from his role as AI and cryptocurrency chief under TrumpPost that he can See why Sanders’ idea resonates“Including with many on the right,” but he warned that it would “actually accelerate the merger of business and government toward which we are already headed.”

Elsewhere on social media, former Microsoft employee, Dare Obasanjo, appears Suggested“The groundwork for a government rescue of OpenAI has already been laid.”