Trump administration explores potential government stake in OpenAI

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the Trump administration are considering a possible government stake at the artificial intelligence start-up, reported CNBC. Earlier reports have surfaced that White House has held preliminary discussions with major AI companies about the potential for the government to buy some shares in their firms. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump stated that his administration is exploring concepts where pieces of these companies could be given to the federal government to establish a "partnership with the American public."

The report comes as the AI giants SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic are planning for an IPO. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has discussed the idea of selling equity to the government at the start of Trump's second term. It had also sought a US government loan to build chip factories ​in the US. Earlier this week, Altman met with a range of lawmakers and officials in Washington about regulation and the latest developments in AI.

“There are concepts where pieces could be given to the American public, where the American public essentially becomes a partner,” said US President Donald Trump to the reporter.

Also Read: Who is Tova Noel? Former Epstein guard denies being orange figure seen on staircase

As part of the deal, OpenAI will donate equity to the US government to seed something like the “Public Wealth Fund”. Open AI said that the government c could “invest in diversified, long-term assets” and would enable citizens to participate in the “upside” of AI growth.

The decision could have implications both domestically and globally. As the government could effectively become a partner of the companies, this means the government would need to keep the AI companies' stock price high to fund public programs. Further, we could see softening of regulations to break up tech monopolies or enforce data privacy rules. It could also be a hedge against public backlash for job loss and resource allocation.

Sen Bernie Sanders proposed that the US government take a 50 per cent ownership stake in the AI companies. If the government becomes the majority stakeholder, focus might shift to national security and defence. It would force the government to look away from profit; countries like Russia and China would perceive this as an extension of the US military.

As news in Washington circulated, whether the government should take an ownership stake in individual AI companies, tech and chip stocks saw a bloodbath. Tech stocks plummeted on Friday, as the NASDAQ was down by 4.2 per cent on Friday, and the PHLX Semiconductor Sector index dropped over 10 per cent. Brodcom was down by 13 per cent, NVIDIA was down 6.2 per cent on Friday, falling below the $5 trillion market cap threshold, and Meta declined 5.5 per cent along with other companies like Marvell Technology, Micron Technology, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.