Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images
Preliminary talks between senior U.S. officials and major artificial intelligence companies have touched on the possibility of the federal government taking equity stakes in those firms, Notus reported, drawing on three people with knowledge of the discussions.
One approach under consideration would have the companies hand over shares to the government on a voluntary basis. Any earnings generated from those holdings could be channeled toward broad public benefit — including the possibility of sending dividend payments directly to American households.
Sam Altman brought the idea to Trump personally in a conversation early in 2025 and has since revisited it in talks with top administration figures, framing equity sharing as a mechanism to distribute AI's financial rewards more widely across the public. One specific vehicle Altman has referenced is the Trump accounts program — child-oriented IRAs that can be opened by parents at tax time — as a possible model, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Anthropic is not engaged in conversations with the administration about providing equity to the government.
