Washington Wants AI Equity Stakes — America's "OpenAI & Me" Era Begins 🇺🇸

The U.S. government could acquire ownership stakes in OpenAI and Anthropic under a model similar to its $8.9 billion Intel deal, President Donald Trump said in a TIME interview, replying "I might" when asked about possible federal investments in the AI companies.

The federal government invested $8.9 billion for approximately 9.9% of Intel's common stock in 2025, an agreement that includes no board representation, and Trump described those transactions as made "for the country" while pointing to OpenAI and Anthropic as candidates for similar arrangements.

The administration first raised the concept last June, when Trump said officials would "look into" public holdings of AI businesses and indicated the plan might develop "a partnership with the American public." Reports in July indicated OpenAI had discussed offering the U.S. government a 5% share, while Anthropic said it had not held similar ownership talks.

Trump now refers to artificial intelligence as "Super Intelligence" or "SI," and has rejected calls to slow development, citing competition with China. The remarks follow Trump's broader push to deepen Washington's engagement with frontier AI firms, with the president framing government participation as a way to align national priorities with corporate strategy.

No financial terms or timelines for any OpenAI or Anthropic stake have been disclosed, and the White House has not issued a formal announcement extending the Intel model to other AI developers.