Trump weighs government stake in top AI companies

Donald Trump is weighing a government stake in major AI companies, a move that would push Washington far deeper into the ownership side of the technology boom just as OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX prepare for the public markets. Trump said he expected to meet AI leaders at the White House as soon as next week, a gathering that would put the White House at the center of a debate over whether the federal government should simply regulate artificial intelligence or also profit from it.

The most concrete version under discussion involves OpenAI. Senior administration officials and OpenAI have been talking about a possible arrangement in which the startup would donate equity to a newly proposed U.S. public wealth fund. Those talks have gone on for more than a year, and Sam Altman first raised the idea with Trump in 2025. No investment terms have been finalized, but the concept would give the government, and potentially the broader public, a direct claim on the upside of one of the most valuable firms in the sector.

Trump has described the idea as a partnership with the American public, saying his team is “looking into” a structure that would let Americans share in the companies’ success. One possible version would route voluntary share donations into a public fund, with future returns potentially used for public benefit and, in some proposals, dividend checks to American households. Bernie Sanders has also entered the conversation around public ownership in AI, a sign that the issue is straddling partisan lines even as the mechanics remain unsettled.

The policy backdrop is already shifting. Trump signed an executive order in February calling for a federal sovereign wealth fund, and on June 2 he issued another order creating a voluntary program for AI companies to share powerful new models with the government before public release. A White House fact sheet said Trump wants the United States to lead the world in AI without unnecessary regulation while protecting national security. Taken together, those steps point to a much larger break with modern U.S. economic orthodoxy: the government would no longer be only referee and regulator, but also a potential shareholder.

For markets, the stakes are immediate. A government claim on top AI firms could shape valuations, governance and competition just as the sector prepares for a possible IPO wave. It could also raise the question of who benefits first, taxpayers broadly or a narrower set of companies whose political ties and strategic importance make them candidates for special treatment. For national security hawks, a public stake could help keep frontier AI anchored in the United States. For critics, it would look like the first step toward state capitalism in one of the country’s most valuable industries.