Trump and Sanders Converge on Government Stakes in AI

In one of the strangest political alignments of 2026, President Donald Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders — a Republican president and a democratic socialist — are now describing the same idea: the US government taking an ownership stake in America's biggest AI companies.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on June 5, Trump said the government could take equity in firms like OpenAI and xAI, making the American public "essentially a partner" in the AI boom. Days earlier, Sanders had laid out a far more aggressive version of public ownership. The left and right are circling the same destination from opposite directions.

What Trump actually said

Trump's comments were loose and off-the-cuff, not a signed policy. But the substance is notable: he floated the public sharing in AI profits, even raising the possibility of dividends flowing to citizens.

According to CNBC, the Trump administration and OpenAI have quietly discussed a government stake for over a year. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman first pitched the concept to administration officials in early 2025 and revisited it this week as part of broader talks about AI regulation.

The proposed structure is unusual: rather than taxpayers buying in with cash, OpenAI would donate equity to the federal government. That avoids a politically toxic government "purchase" of a private company while still handing the public a slice of the upside.

Why this matters: a sitting US president openly discussing equity in private AI firms would have been unthinkable a year ago. It signals how central — and how politically charged — AI has become.

Sanders' much bigger swing

Sanders is pushing in the same direction but far harder. He introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would impose a one-time 50% tax — paid in company stock, not cash — on major AI firms including OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI.

Those shares would flow into a federal sovereign wealth fund, giving the government voting rights and board representation at each company, plus the power to block decisions deemed harmful to the public.

Sanders' argument: these companies trained their models on the creative work of millions of people without permission or payment, so the public that supplied the raw material should share in the wealth. Tech companies are strongly opposed, viewing a forced 50% transfer as a non-starter.

The gap between the two visions is wide. Trump is musing about a voluntary, donated stake; Sanders wants a mandatory half. But both now treat public ownership of AI as a legitimate idea rather than a fringe one.

Where Anthropic stands

One major lab is sitting this out. People familiar with the matter told reporters that Anthropic is not in talks with the administration about giving the government equity.

That fits a rocky history. In February 2026, Trump ordered federal agencies to "immediately cease" using Anthropic's technology after the company declined to let the Pentagon deploy its AI without certain safety guardrails. So while Sanders' bill names Anthropic as a target, the company is notably absent from the friendlier White House conversations.

The political cross-currents

The convergence is being driven by an unusual coalition. Part of Trump's own MAGA base increasingly views big AI companies as the new Big Tech oligarchs, putting pressure on a president who has championed AI deregulation while also casting himself as a defender of American workers.

That's a hard balance to hold, and the equity idea is one way to square it — let the public "win" alongside the companies. Trump has separately directed the Treasury and Commerce departments to develop plans for a broader US sovereign wealth fund.

For the AI labs, the optics are tricky. OpenAI is reportedly preparing a public offering, and Anthropic has been moving toward its own. IPO roadshows are far simpler without headlines about governments taking stakes.

What's next — and what's not real yet

Here's the crucial caveat: as of now, nothing is signed. There's no legislation passed, no term sheet, and no agreed-upon stake. Trump's remarks were verbal, Sanders' bill faces steep odds in Congress, and the OpenAI discussions remain exploratory.

What's genuinely new is that both ends of the political spectrum are now openly entertaining public ownership of AI — a concept that was politically untouchable not long ago. Even some companies, per reports, are privately weighing smaller, voluntary government-ownership mechanisms as a way to ease public anger ahead of going public.

The bottom line: don't expect Washington to own a chunk of OpenAI tomorrow. But the fact that Trump and Sanders are converging on the idea tells you how the politics of AI are shifting — toward questions of who owns the technology, and who benefits from it. That debate is just getting started, and it will shape the environment every AI company operates in for years.