Former President Donald Trump has expressed support for a proposal that would give the American public equity stakes in major artificial intelligence companies, a plan that has recently gained momentum within the White House amid soaring valuations in the AI sector.

The concept, which has been discussed by OpenAI and other technology firms, involves establishing a sovereign-wealth-style fund made up of equity contributed by AI companies. This fund would distribute shares directly to U.S. citizens, allowing the public to share in the growth of an industry that has rapidly expanded but remains largely loss-making. This approach differs from last year’s Trump administration investment in Intel, where the government took a direct $9 billion stake in the chipmaker. Instead, this plan envisions individual ownership by the public, not government-held equity.

Trump raised the idea during a media interaction on Friday while aboard Air Force One, suggesting that pieces of AI companies could be allocated to Americans as a means to address concerns over the technology’s fast development. According to sources familiar with discussions, a voluntary contribution of small equity stakes, led by OpenAI, appears to be the most likely approach. Such a fund would be distributed similarly to Alaska’s oil revenue sharing program. Brad Gerstner, a prominent investor in AI firms Anthropic and OpenAI, has supported the idea, encouraging company founders to donate shares to benefit all citizens. Gerstner also pointed to a previously proposed plan from the Trump administration to place $1,000 into investment accounts for every child born between 2025 and 2028 as a potential distribution mechanism.

OpenAI formally proposed this vision in an April paper, suggesting collaboration between policymakers and AI companies to seed a public wealth fund that would provide every citizen with a stake in AI-driven economic growth, including those not actively invested in financial markets. However, the announcement caught some White House officials and AI rivals off guard. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had no plans to meet with Trump or attend a White House meeting on AI scheduled for the following week, according to sources. Anthropic representatives denied that the company was in talks with the administration about offering equity stakes.

The proposal emerges amid heightened political pressure surrounding AI’s economic impact. Progressive politicians, including Senator Bernie Sanders, have recently advocated for aggressive taxation of AI labs, including a one-time 50% tax on AI companies. Sanders’s stance has found limited backing from some populist figures on the right, such as former Trump chief of staff Steve Bannon, who has criticized the growing power of AI firms. With midterm elections approaching, strategists from both major parties are seeking ways to address voter concerns about AI’s potential threat to jobs.

While the Trump administration has previously pursued equity stakes in strategic industries—such as the $9 billion investment in Intel and billions in rare-earth and quantum computing startups—there is no precedent for acquiring ownership in loss-making AI companies with valuations in the trillions. Unlike the Intel investment, which used funds appropriated by the Biden-era Chips Act, purchasing equity in leading AI firms would be politically and financially complex, likely requiring congressional approval.

Reactions to Trump’s endorsement were mixed. Some pro-business Republicans and Silicon Valley investors remained cautious. David Sacks, a billionaire investor and former White House AI adviser, warned against direct government ownership and control of AI companies. Samuel Hammond, director of AI policy at the Foundation for American Innovation, cautioned that partial government ownership could lead to political favoritism and corruption, generating backlash from investors and companies excluded from such arrangements. Sacks, who stepped down earlier this year, was considered one of the administration’s more AI-accelerationist figures, with his deputy Sriram Krishnan announcing his departure on Saturday.