Senior U.S. officials have held preliminary discussions about having the federal government take equity stakes in major artificial-intelligence companies, according to people familiar with the matter, after OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman pitched the concept to the administration last year.
A government stake in AI developers would allow the U.S. to share in the potential economic upside of the fast-evolving technology, according to the people, and give AI companies a stamp of approval from those who regulate their models. Proponents have also argued it could temper rising anxiety about the economic fallout of the AI revolution as several AI companies prepare to go public. The WSJ reported that any potential partnership could also expose the government to volatility in the AI market.
Altman met Wednesday with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), who has said he plans to introduce legislation that would transfer 50% of the equity of the top AI companies to a public fund, the people familiar said.
Some AI executives have warned that their powerful new tools could upend how people live and work and ultimately transform the labor market. Silicon Valley has floated a variety of proposals for how society could adapt to the new economic realities of the AI era, including the creation of shared income for the masses and the creation of a sovereign-wealth fund.
Altman has long toyed with the idea of getting the federal government involved with OpenAI, asking whether it would be interested in funding the AI lab years before ChatGPT launched, the people familiar said. In April, his company proposed creating a public wealth fund that would invest in AI companies and distribute the economic benefits to the broader public. The proposal called for the wealth fund’s profits to be given directly to citizens, allowing more people to benefit from the technology’s growth, including those not invested in the financial markets.
Altman has also floated the idea of a program that might work like the Trump accounts, the people said — a new type of IRA for children that parents can set up when they file their taxes, the WSJ reported.
Senior government officials have preliminarily discussed taking direct stakes in AI developers since early last year as part of a broader effort to take a more active role in the private sector, according to the people familiar. The Trump administration has announced direct investments in at least 10 companies, including the chip maker Intel. The president signed an executive order earlier this week that increases oversight over the AI industry.
OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar last year floated the possibility of the government backing loans tied to data centers, according to the people familiar. Altman later said the company doesn’t want federal loan guarantees, and Friar said the company wasn’t seeking help for its infrastructure commitments but was discussing a broader framework for an industrywide build-out, the WSJ reported.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The news outlet Notus earlier reported on the equity-stake discussions.