Donald Trump is at it again. This time, the White House is floating an idea that sounds straight out of a sovereign wealth fund: the US government taking a direct financial stake in some of the biggest AI companies in the country.
According to BBC reporting, Trump said the goal would be to “create almost a partnership with the American public.” He’s expected to meet leaders from Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, SpaceX, and Anthropic at the White House as soon as next week.
Let me be real with you. This isn’t just about money — though that’s certainly part of it.
The Money Angle
Trump compared the proposed AI investment to the US government taking a 10% stake in Intel last year. He claims the government has already made money on that one, though verifying those exact returns is another story. The logic is pretty straightforward: if the government owns a piece of these companies, taxpayers benefit from their success.
Sen. Bernie Sanders has gone even further. He recently proposed a sovereign wealth fund where the US would take a 50% stake in AI companies. When asked about it, Trump didn’t dismiss the idea entirely, noting that their positions “aren’t that far apart” on the economics. That’s saying something from a president who’s not usually aligned with Sanders on much.
But here’s where things get interesting. The real motivation might not be returns at all.
The Public Relations Play
Americans’ views on AI have grown increasingly negative. That’s a problem for an industry that’s fueling record highs in US markets right now. Trump essentially admitted as much, saying part of the rationale for government investment is that “the American people will like it better” when they can benefit from AI’s success.
Think about the optics. If the government has skin in the game, suddenly AI isn’t just some distant tech boogeyman — it’s something the public has a stake in. It’s a clever framing play, whether you buy it or not.
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, met with Sanders this week in Washington. Around the same time, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei met with senior White House officials. Even though Anthropic is currently suing the Department of Defense over contract terms, those meetings signal things are thawing.
The Bigger Picture
The irony here is hard to ignore. The same government that some AI companies have push back against — over privacy concerns, military contracts, and regulatory scrutiny — is now being invited in as a partner. Jack Clark, Anthropic’s co-founder, told BBC’s Newsnight the company is in “daily conversations” with the US government and finding ways to “be helpful to national security.”
Meanwhile, on the consumer side of things, Jess Asato is suing xAI after a fake image of her in a bikini was created. That’s the kind of story that fuels public skepticism about AI — and exactly the kind of mess the government partnership might be trying to counter.
Whether this actually improves public sentiment or just creates a new layer of political entanglement for the AI industry remains to be seen. But one thing’s clear: the lines between Big Tech and Big Government are getting blurrier by the week.
