Trump Endorses Government Equity Stakes in OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI — Converges With Sanders as Altman Privately Negotiates

President Trump told reporters on Air Force One that the U.S. government may take direct equity stakes in AI giants including OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI — endorsing the populist logic Sen. Bernie Sanders articulated in his 50%-equity bill just days earlier and creating an extraordinary left-MAGA convergence on AI nationalization. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman separately held private talks with Sanders, saying he supports public AI ownership in principle but cannot back the 50% threshold; Sanders' team said no agreement was reached on the core terms. Trump said AI executives will visit the White House 'probably next week' to discuss a government partnership stake, a development that marks the first time a sitting U.S. president has publicly endorsed direct government equity in private AI companies.