Vice President JD Vance said that President Donald Trump supports the U.S. government taking ownership stakes in major artificial intelligence companies, likening the idea to a sovereign wealth fund-style approach, while Elon Musk countered that direct cash payments to Americans would work better.
Trump Backs AI Ownership Stakes Speaking on an episode of The Diary Of A CEO that aired Thursday, Vance said Trump has stated the position publicly and called it unconventional for a Republican administration, describing the president as a pragmatist rather than an ideologue.
"The president is supportive of the United States owning these big AI companies," Vance said, adding that Trump "likes the idea as sort of a sovereign wealth fund idea." He called Trump "a very unconventional person" for a Republican to hold that view.
Vance also questioned whether AI companies, after amassing trillions in wealth over the next decade or two, could have that wealth redistributed to workers through taxation alone.
"I'm very skeptical of that," he said, calling pure redistribution "a very modern… liberal concept" that risks making the poor "subservients of the rich." He pointed to labor unions as a potentially important model, adding, "You've got to give the workers a seat at the table." Musk Pushes Treasury Payments Responding to it, Elon Musk offered a different fix on X.
