President Donald Trump said the US government may take direct equity stakes in major artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, according to a report published June 5, 2026.
Key Points
- Trump said the US government may take direct equity stakes in leading AI companies.
- Companies named include OpenAI, Anthropic, and Elon Musk's xAI.
- The position represents an unusual convergence with Senator Bernie Sanders' stance.
- The report comes days after Trump signed an AI executive order on voluntary model reviews.
- No formal legislation or executive action has been filed to implement equity ownership.
Fortune reported that Trump made the remarks, describing the position as a potential partnership between the federal government and frontier AI developers.
The Proposal and Its Context
Trump's comments suggest the administration views AI as a strategic asset requiring direct government participation. Equity stakes would give the federal government financial exposure to AI's commercial upside.
Fortune noted that the stance aligns unexpectedly with Senator Bernie Sanders, who has separately argued for public ownership of AI infrastructure. The two politicians rarely share policy ground.
No formal bill or executive action was filed alongside Trump's remarks. The comments appear to reflect an evolving White House position rather than an announced program.
The AI sector has drawn intense attention from Washington in recent weeks. Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order asking frontier AI developers to voluntarily submit models for a 30-day federal safety review before release. OpenAI confirmed it would comply with that order, according to CNBC.
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Background
The Trump administration has taken a notably active posture on AI governance in the past month. The executive order on pre-release model reviews marked a shift from the prior hands-off stance the administration signaled after revoking Biden-era AI directives in early 2026.
Congressional debate has also intensified. Lawmakers introduced the Great American AI Act earlier this week, which analysts described as among the most detailed federal AI governance proposals to date. The Wall Street Journal reported that security chiefs viewed the voluntary review order as relatively unthreatening to existing enterprise AI deployment.
Equity ownership of AI firms would represent a far more interventionist step than anything currently on the legislative table. The proposal's commercial implications for OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which have pursued or signaled IPO plans, remain unclear.
Anthropic separately named Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan as lead underwriters for a planned IPO targeting an October 2026 listing, according to Tech Times. Government equity participation could complicate that timeline.
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