{"id":206,"date":"2026-06-04T23:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T23:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=206"},"modified":"2026-06-04T23:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T23:10:19","slug":"senior-u-s-officials-eye-government-shares-in-ai-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=206","title":{"rendered":"Senior U.S. Officials Eye Government Shares in AI Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Senior U.S. officials have held preliminary discussions with major artificial intelligence companies about the potential for the federal government to acquire some shares in their firms, according to three people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Directed Millions in National Park Fees to Hire Park Police<\/a><\/p>\n

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has discussed the idea with senior Trump administration officials periodicallysince the president began his second term, said two of the sources, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect private deliberations. Altman first pitched the concept directly to President Donald Trump in a conversation in early 2025, and has discussed it again with senior administration officials in recent weeks as a way to more broadly distribute the economic benefits of AI to the public, they said.<\/p>\n

While planning is ongoing and details are in flux, discussions have centered on having the firms voluntarily cede the shares to the government, the people said. The returns on the investment could then be directed to public purposes, one of the people said, such as distributing a dividend payment to all American households.<\/p>\n

The deliberations, which have not been previously reported, come as OpenAI and Anthropic prepare for what are expected to be among the largest initial public offerings in history \u2014 and as they struggle with public concern over AI. A person familiar with the matter said Anthropic is not having conversations with the administration about providing equity to the government.<\/p>\n

A dividend payment or other public benefit stemming from AI profits could help assuage widespread public anxiety and concern over its economic impacts, ensuring that the benefits of a technology built on collective human knowledge does not help only a small percentage of private owners.<\/p>\n

But such an arrangement could also pose novel governance challenges, given the complications of the U.S. trying to effectively regulate something it partially owns, while also arguably increasing the incentives for a federal bailout.<\/p>\n

The legal mechanism for any AI firm to turn over equity to the government is unclear and may pose an obstacle to putting the idea into effect, the people said. It is also not clear how far the talks have progressed, and several people cautioned that the deal may ultimately not come together.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the White House declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Since the start of his second term, Trump has pursued partial government ownership of American companies to a far greater degree than any other administration in recent memory.<\/p>\n

The U.S. has made direct investments in at least 10 companies, including a deal with Intel that the White House has touted for providing a \u201cdirect windfall for American taxpayers,\u201d with the value of the company stock surging by four-fold, at least as of now, since the government\u2019s purchase. After the Intel deal was reached, Trump said publicly<\/u><\/span>, \u201cI hope I\u2019m going to have many more cases like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In private, Trump has said that American taxpayers should benefit from artificial intelligence, said one of the people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n

This instinct is bipartisan: Sen. Bernie Sanders called this week<\/u><\/span> for the U.S. government to acquire 50 percent equity stakes in the AI companies, effectively bringing the companies under federal control. The Vermont independent\u2019s forthcoming bill also would tax at 50% the stock of OpenAI, Athropic, xAI and other AI firms, with the proceeds being placed in a sovereign wealth fund for the public.<\/p>\n

Tech companies are strongly opposed to this measure, but many are eager to find ways to win over Americans who are skeptical of AI. Fifty-five percent of Americans think AI will do more harm than good in their day-to-day lives, according to recent Quinnipiac polling<\/u><\/span>. The upsurge of public anger has posed a threat to AI\u2019s development, particularly through local resistance<\/u><\/span> to the construction of data centers crucial to its technological advancement.<\/p>\n

Read more Republicans Block Proposal to Bar \u2018Anti-Weaponization\u2019 Fund<\/a><\/p>\n

OpenAI has explored multiple options for giving the public greater confidence in its offerings. In a , OpenAI issued a list of recommendations to ensure \u201ca future where superintelligence benefits everyone,\u201d including giving workers priority to use AI to eliminate dangerous tasks and helping entrepreneurs use AI to cut overhead.<\/p>\n

Another recommendation by OpenAI was to create a \u201cPublic Wealth Fund\u201d in which the government would broadly distribute the financial gains of AI companies. Asked for comment for this story, an OpenAI spokeswoman pointed to the April paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreate a Public Wealth Fund that provides every citizen \u2014 including those not invested in financial markets \u2014 with a stake in AI-driven economic growth,\u201d OpenAI\u2019s report states. \u201cPolicymakers and AI companies should work together to determine how to best seed the Fund, which could invest in diversified, long-term assets that capture growth in both AI companies and the broader set of firms adopting and deploying AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

While OpenAI and the Trump administration may have incentives to reach an agreement, critics on both the left and right see potential downsides. Nat Purser, a senior policy advocate for AI policy at Public Knowledge, said the public should not \u201cwant a situation where the government becomes less willing to impose, or enforce, safety rules because doing so could reduce the value of its own investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is that the government would be a shareholder and a regulator at the same time, which creates substantial conflicts of interest,\u201d Purser said.<\/p>\n

Many conservatives who oppose government interventions in the economy were critical of Trump\u2019s deal with Intel, and would probably have even bigger gripes if OpenAI and the president came to an agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re continuing to see the government pick preferred companies and engage in this kind of investment,\u201d said Jennifer Huddleston, a senior fellow in technology policy at the Cato Institute, a right-leaning think-tank. \u201cIt raises questions about how that could intrude into a lot of the traditional principles when it comes to private enterprise and the free market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others fear that any partial disbursement of equity to the government may not go far enough. Sanders, for instance, has argued public ownership of the firms is critical to ensure that \u201cthe transformation of human life\u201d is not \u201cdictated by a handful of Big Tech oligarchs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve Bannon, a tech critic and the president\u2019s former chief strategist, said the talks between OpenAI and administration officials were evidence that AI companies are fearful of public scrutiny and regulation. Like Sanders, Bannon argued that the government should take as much as 50% of the companies\u2019 equity.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can smell the stench of desperation emanating from the oligarchs as they run heedlessly to a public market takeout,\u201d Bannon said. \u201cWe should not take \u2018tip money\u2019 but force them to cough up 50% of the equity \u2014 to be dispersed to American citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump to Shovel Out Nearly $700 Million in Taxpayer Money to Prop Up Coal<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An agreement to give the U.S. government equity stakes in AI companies could have seismic consequences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\nSenior U.S. Officials Eye Government Shares in AI Giants - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=206\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senior U.S. Officials Eye Government Shares in AI Giants - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An agreement to give the U.S. government equity stakes in AI companies could have seismic consequences.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=206\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-04T23:10:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=206#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=206\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Senior U.S. Officials Eye Government Shares in AI Giants\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-04T23:10:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=206\"},\"wordCount\":1149,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=206#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5bf57209c3a80f31eaee3032069b9a0b-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=206#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=206\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=206\",\"name\":\"Senior U.S. Officials Eye Government Shares in AI Giants - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=206#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=206#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5bf57209c3a80f31eaee3032069b9a0b-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-04T23:10:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=206#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=206\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=206#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5bf57209c3a80f31eaee3032069b9a0b-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5bf57209c3a80f31eaee3032069b9a0b-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks with reporters as he walks to a meeting at the U.S. Capitol on June 3, 2026. 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