The Trump administration might take an equity stake in OpenAI

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

Trump doesn’t appear to have mentioned any specific companies in his comments, but OpenAI is a likely candidate, especially after CNBC reported that the Trump administration has indeed discussed an equity stake with the AI ​​company.

CNBC said some of those assets could be used to create a ‘Public Wealth Fund’. recently proposed by OpenAI. As the company outlines, proceeds from the fund can be “distributed directly to citizens, allowing more people to directly benefit from the upside of AI-powered growth, regardless of their starting ability or access to capital.”

According to Bloomberg, then reporters from Air Force One Trump asked about the ideahe responded that he has talked to AI executives about “concepts where pieces can be given to the American public, where the American public essentially becomes a partner with the companies.”

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

This appears to be in line with Trump’s broader interest in government ownership of for-profit companies — most notably when the government took a 10% stake in struggling chipmaker Intel last year.

The idea has also found some traction on the left, with Senator Bernie Sanders speaking out this week propose a one-off tax of 50% that companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI (part of SpaceX) would pay in the form of shares.

With all of these companies potentially going public this year, Sanders argued that this tax would “give the public a direct role in determining the future of this technology” and “ensure that the trillions of dollars potentially generated by AI are used to improve the lives of us all.”

David Sacks, an investor and podcaster who recently stepped down from his role as Trump’s AI and crypto czar, said he see why Sanders’ idea resonates“including many on the right,” but warned that this would in fact “accelerate the business-government merger we are already drifting toward.” (Sacks is now co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.)

Elsewhere on social media, former Microsoft employee Dare Obasanjo suggested“The groundwork is already being laid for a government bailout for OpenAI.”