President Trump says he wants the American public to get a cut of the AI boom. The AI labs want trillion-dollar valuations. And somewhere in between, a handful of proposals are floating around Washington that would fundamentally change who owns the technology that is about to reshape the economy.
I have watched this pattern before. A new technology moves from interesting tool to public infrastructure, and suddenly the money, risk, and control all start piling up in the same few places. First come the founders and investors. Then come the public promises. Then comes the question nobody can avoid: who gets the upside, and who carries the risk?
That is where AI is now.
The snarky take writes itself: “Bestie, we’ll believe it when the check clears.” But the reality underneath is more interesting and more uncertain.
What Trump Actually Said 🗣️
On June 5, 2026, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he wanted the U.S. government to invest in AI companies to “create almost a partnership with the American public.” He compared the idea to the government’s 10% stake in Intel, which he claimed has already made money.
“There’s a concept out there, there’s so much money and it’s so big that there are concepts where pieces could be given to the American public, where the American public essentially becomes a partner with the companies,” Trump said.
A few days later, he expanded on the idea in the Oval Office:
“I’m going to have meetings with the top 12 or 15 executives very shortly, and we’re talking about giving back something to the public, and if we do that, the public will become very rich. I think they’ll do that, and I think it’ll make it very popular.”
The policy concept has been floated by OpenAI, which issued a policy paper backing a public wealth fund, and discussed by Anthropic.
The Three Main Proposals 🧩
Policymakers, companies, and advocates have proposed several pathways for Trump’s idea of AI companies “giving back” to the public. These include installing U.S. government representatives on company boards, targeted taxes on the industry, and exchanging federal funding for equity stakes.
1. Government Equity Stakes 🏛️
The most discussed approach is giving the U.S. government ownership stakes in leading AI companies. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman first pitched the concept to the Trump administration in early 2025.
OpenAI’s April 2026 policy document formally proposed a “Public Wealth Fund” that would “invest in long-term assets tied to the AI boom, with returns distributed directly to citizens.” One version of the idea would have companies contribute equity to seed the fund, a structure that avoids direct taxpayer cash outlays.
Trump has publicly acknowledged the concept and said his team is looking at ways for the public to share in AI company gains.
2. Taxes Paid in Stock 📈
Senator Bernie Sanders has proposed a more aggressive version. On June 22, 2026, he formally introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would give the public a 50% ownership stake in the largest AI companies through a one-time 50% tax on their stock.
“Left unchecked, Artificial Intelligence and robotics threatens the jobs, privacy rights and mental health of every man, woman and child in America,” Sanders said. “The American people must have the ability to slow it down and make sure that AI benefits humanity, not just the richest people on the planet.”
Under Sanders’ plan, the government would deposit the shares into a sovereign wealth fund managed by a seven-member Independent Commission for Democratic AI, nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The tax would apply to any company with annual AI revenue of at least $200 million. At current valuations, the fund would be worth an estimated $7 trillion. A 5% annual dividend could provide more than $1,000 to every American annually.
The idea echoes a proposal by law professors to impose a tax payable in stock rather than cash.
3. The Alaska Model ❄️
Both OpenAI and Anthropic have pointed to the Alaska Permanent Fund as a model. That fund, seeded with oil revenues, provides annual dividends to every Alaska resident. Proponents argue a similar model could apply to AI, which relies heavily on publicly created data.
“The public infrastructure in the United States is a citizen domain,” said Joseph Blasi, who teaches corporate governance at Rutgers University. “It’s not something that a billionaire here or there or a trillionaire here or there can just grab.”
OpenAI in April proposed creating a “public wealth fund” to invest in AI companies and distribute proceeds to citizens. Anthropic said it is exploring a “digital dividend” consisting of payments to Americans funded by taxes on the AI sector.
The Skeptics’ Case ⚖️
The criticism of any government equity arrangement is pointed and practical. Nat Purser of the advocacy group Public Knowledge cautioned against any setup that makes the government less inclined to impose or enforce safety regulations because doing so might diminish the value of its own holdings.
“The problem is that the government would be a shareholder and a regulator at the same time,” Purser warned.
Free-market analysts warn that government ownership could distort incentives. Neil Chilson, who leads AI policy at the Abundance Institute, noted that it puts the government in a space where it is no longer focused on ensuring the U.S. has the capacity it needs to protect the public interest, focusing instead on ensuring its investment pays off.
David Sacks, Trump’s former AI and crypto czar, came out against the idea, calling it an acceleration of corporate-government fusion. He warned that while conservatives rightly fear a Central Bank Digital Currency, they ought to be even more concerned about Central Government AI.
There is also the geopolitical angle. If Washington takes a meaningful stake in OpenAI or Anthropic, allies and trading partners may start asking the same questions about American AI that the United States asked about Huawei, specifically whether a company so entwined with its government can really be trusted to operate independently.
The Pre-Revenue Problem 🧮
Here is the uncomfortable part that does not get enough attention in the headlines. OpenAI and Anthropic are both reportedly preparing for massive IPOs, with valuations that could approach or exceed $1 trillion. OpenAI filed its confidential S-1 with the SEC on May 22, 2026, targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion. Anthropic followed on June 1, after a funding round valued it at $965 billion.
But neither company is consistently profitable yet. The Information reported that OpenAI burned through $3.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026 while bringing in $5.7 billion in revenue, representing a loss of roughly 65 cents for every dollar it brought in. In 2025, the company spent $34 billion while generating $13 billion in revenue, according to audited financials obtained by journalist Ed Zitron and verified by the Financial Times.
Even as these labs burn through historic amounts of cash, hardware giants are still betting big on their survival. On the same day Sanders formally introduced his bill, Micron announced a strategic agreement with Anthropic that includes memory and storage supply, AI architecture design, and a strategic investment in Anthropic’s Series H funding round.
Skeptics also ask whether public wealth proposals are truly about sharing upside, or whether they could help AI companies secure government support before their business models are fully proven. Altman has also floated “universal basic compute,” in which every citizen would receive an allocation of AI tokens they could spend, sell, or donate, creating a kind of universal basic income with extra steps that gives AI companies a cut.
The Bottom Line ✅
The proposals range from voluntary corporate contributions to a mandatory 50% public ownership stake. The legal mechanisms for either are unclear. The valuations are enormous, but the companies are not yet reliably profitable. And the government is simultaneously trying to regulate an industry in which it may also hold equity.
Trump has turned up the temperature on a topic that was already simmering in Washington and Silicon Valley. But the gap between a presidential sound bite and a check in the mail is still vast.
Whether any of this actually happens, and what it looks like if it does, remains to be seen. But the fact that we are even having this conversation tells you something about how fast the ground is shifting.
If AI becomes infrastructure, who owns the upside, who controls the rules, and who gets stuck with the risk?
Quick Summary ✅
- The Spark: President Trump proposed direct public equity partnerships with leading AI firms on June 5, 2026.
- The Legislation: Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act on June 22, 2026, targeting a 50% equity tax on large firms.
- The Financial Gap: Industry giants target trillion-dollar IPO values despite major losses, with OpenAI burning $3.7B against $5.7B in revenue in Q1 2026.
- Corporate Alliances: Hardware providers continue to back the ecosystem, highlighted by Micron’s major Series H investment and supply deal with Anthropic.
Related Stories 🔗
- iOS 27’s Quiet AI Features Might Matter More Than the New Siri
- When Washington Forced Anthropic to Pull Its Most Powerful AI Models
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This article originally appeared on BereaOnline.com — your home for Madison County news, community events, and local updates.
About the Author ✍️
Dr. Chad Hembree serves as the Executive Director of Spotlight Acting School, The Spotlight Playhouse, and Spotlight Performing Arts. His professional history includes 30 years as a certified network engineer and former technology executive, alongside extensive media experience hosting the nationally syndicated radio program Tech Talk. Having operated BereaOnline.com since 1995, his technology journalism focuses on converting complex digital advancements, cloud infrastructures, and emerging tech trends into clear, practical insights for everyday families and local businesses.
Sources 📌
- U.S. Senate Legislative Records & Executive Press Dispatches (June 2026)
- The Information Technology Financial Analysis Indexes (June 2026)
- Financial Times Audited Corporate Ledger Summaries (June 2026)
- Micron Technology Corporate Procurement Dispatches (June 2026)