Investing.com — U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday his team is exploring the idea of AI companies giving the American public a stake in their firms, and that he plans to host a meeting with AI executives as soon as next week.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he had discussed a deal with major AI labs in which the federal government “essentially becomes a partner with the companies.”
“There’s something very interesting about it, where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public,” he said. “We’ll look into that.”
Major AI-related stocks rose in early Monday premarket trading. Nvidia gained more than 1% by 04:14 ET, while other chipmakers Marvell and Micron rose between 4% and 7%, and AMD and Intel added more than 1%. Google, meanwhile, fell 1.2%.
Trump said companies including Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI would discuss the proposal further at the White House next week. Anthropic, SpaceX, and OpenAI are all expected to go public in the coming months in blockbuster Wall Street debuts, each likely commanding trillion-dollar valuations.
The U.S. president’s comments come after digital news outlet NOTUS had reported Thursday that senior U.S. officials held preliminary talks with AI companies about the government potentially buying shares in their firms.
The Trump administration has already taken an unusually active role in the corporate sector, acquiring stakes in chipmaker Intel and several rare earth and quantum computing companies.
The idea gained traction after progressive Senator Bernie Sanders said he would introduce legislation imposing a one-time 50% tax on AI labs’ stock, with proceeds flowing into a U.S. sovereign wealth fund.
The move “would guarantee that the trillions created by AI are used to improve the lives of all of us,” Sanders said. The proposal drew sharp criticism from prominent AI industry figures, including Silicon Valley venture capitalist and Trump adviser David Sacks.
Trump acknowledged Friday that Sanders’ proposal had resonated with some of his own voters, and suggested the idea could help ease growing public anxiety about artificial intelligence.
Trump’s administration has struggled to settle on an approach to AI regulation. The White House abruptly canceled a signing ceremony for an AI executive order scheduled for May 21, with reports suggesting the tech industry had pushed back against elements of the directive.
Trump said at the time he disliked certain provisions and did not want to take steps that could undermine the U.S. in its AI rivalry with China. Earlier this week, he signed a revised version of the order asking leading AI developers to voluntarily submit their most capable models for government cybersecurity testing before public release.
