Sanders proposes 50% government stake in major AI companies
New legislation would create a federal investment fund by transferring equity from firms earning over $200 million in AI revenue.
Sen. Bernie Sanders has introduced legislation that would require the largest U.S. artificial intelligence companies to transfer half their equity to the federal government, according to details first reported by Yahoo Finance.
The American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, introduced June 18, would create a public investment fund by collecting shares from AI companies generating $200 million or more in annual AI-related revenue. Sanders' office estimates the fund could eventually distribute more than $1,000 per year to every American.
The proposal targets major players including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Elon Musk's xAI, as well as the AI divisions of Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.
How the equity transfer would work
Rather than collecting cash, the legislation calls for a one-time transfer of shares equivalent to 50% of each qualifying company's equity. Those shares would flow into a new federal trust managed by a seven-member Independent Commission for Democratic AI, with members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The government would hold voting shares and equal board representation at each company, giving it authority to block corporate decisions deemed harmful to the public interest. The fund would collect dividends from its holdings and distribute them to Americans.
Why it matters
The proposal represents a fundamentally different approach to AI governance than current regulatory frameworks. Instead of oversight through rules and penalties, Sanders' model would give the federal government direct ownership stakes and board seats at the companies shaping AI development. For technology leaders, this raises immediate questions about decision-making authority, investor rights, and whether such a structure would accelerate or constrain innovation. The $200 million revenue threshold is low enough to capture not just frontier labs but also established tech companies' AI units, potentially affecting a significant portion of the industry.
The sovereign wealth fund model
Sanders frames AI as a national resource comparable to oil or natural gas, arguing that because AI models train on humanity's collective output—books, art, code, and conversations—the public deserves ownership of what that data produces.
More than 100 sovereign wealth funds operate worldwide, from Norway's roughly $2 trillion fund to smaller state-level pools in Texas and New Mexico. These funds typically convert revenue from natural resources into diversified investment portfolios that generate long-term returns.
The Financial Times reported this week that OpenAI has discussed giving the Trump administration a 5% stake in the company. According to Yahoo Finance, Sanders has pushed OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in recent conversations for public ownership roughly ten times that size.
Details were first reported by Yahoo Finance.
This is an original analysis by the Omega editorial team. Source reporting: AI Watch.
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