The Donald Trump administration is reportedly exploring whether the U.S. government should take ownership stakes in leading artificial intelligence companies. That might sound like something out of a progressive fantasy, but it's happening just days after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) unveiled a proposal calling for public ownership of major AI firms. Strange bedfellows, indeed.

Senior U.S. officials have held preliminary discussions with major AI companies about potentially transferring shares to the government voluntarily, according to a report from NOTUS citing people familiar with the matter. Under the reported discussions, returns from those holdings could be directed toward public initiatives, including potential dividend payments to American households. Think of it as a national dividend check, funded by the AI boom.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reportedly discussed the idea with administration officials since President Trump returned to office and pitched the concept directly to Trump in 2025 as a way to distribute AI-driven wealth more broadly. Altman, who has long mused about universal basic income, seems to be finding a receptive audience in an unlikely place.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The reported talks emerged just days after Sanders introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, legislation that would create a federal investment fund financed with equity rather than cash. The proposal calls for leading AI firms, including OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI, to transfer 50% of their equity to the government, with the remaining half distributed among the public. That's a far more aggressive approach than the voluntary discussions the administration is reportedly having, but the underlying idea is similar: the government gets a piece of the AI pie.

Noted short seller Jim Chanos highlighted the unusual political overlap between Trump and Sanders. "What do you call it when both Donald Trump AND Bernie Sanders advocate government ("public") ownership of corporate equity…?!" Chanos wrote on X. It's a fair question, and one that underscores how the conversation around AI and wealth distribution is shifting across the political spectrum.

The administration has increasingly embraced equity stakes in strategically important industries. This includes investments tied to Intel Corp. (INTC), rare-earth producer MP Materials (MP), and reported financing discussions involving U.S. drone manufacturers. The logic seems to be that if the government is going to support critical industries, it should get something more than just a tax receipt in return.

Whether any of this actually happens is another matter. The voluntary approach the administration is exploring would require companies to agree, and the Sanders bill faces long odds in Congress. But the fact that both ends of the political spectrum are talking about government ownership of AI companies suggests this idea isn't going away anytime soon.