Altman Meets Sanders, Supports Concept of Public AI Stake but Rejects 50% Ownership Proposal

Sam Altman met Bernie Sanders in the senator's Senate office last week at Altman's request to discuss a proposal that the public take a 50% ownership stake in AI companies such as OpenAI, with proceeds used to create a public wealth fund. Altman told Sanders he supported the general principle of a public stake in AI but could not back the 50% threshold, according to people with knowledge of the conversation reported by AP.

"There's something very interesting about it, where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public," Altman said.

Sanders proposed the 50% stake. " The Trump administration took a 10% stake in chipmaker Intel last year. 2bn) investment in Intel common stock.

U.S. government a 90% stake in the carrier, but no deal was reached and the airline shut down. Railroads became the first industry subject to federal regulation in 1887 after decades of public anger at rates charged to farmers and small businesses.

The Sherman Antitrust Act was passed in 1890. In France, the post-Liberation government under Charles de Gaulle nationalised gas, electricity and coal between 1944 and 1946. About 70% of college students see AI as a threat to their future jobs, according to a 2025 poll by the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Commencement speakers have been booed for discussing the technology on campuses. Anthropic has proposed mechanisms for coordinating pauses on advanced AI development if systems become too powerful. The Trump administration signed an executive order establishing a process for reviewing national security risks posed by advanced AI systems before their public release.