Let no one accuse Bernie Sanders of ducking the big questions. Writing in the New York Times last week, the senator asked: “Will the future of humanity be determined by a handful of billionaires who have promoted and developed AI, with virtually no democratic input, who stand to become even richer and more powerful than they are today?”
His proposed answer: a US sovereign wealth fund created by taking 50% stock in AI companies such as Anthropic, OpenAI and xAI. The move, he argued, would give the government “the power, through its voting shares and an equal representation on each company’s board, to block decisions that hurt our citizens”. It would also return “trillions of dollars potentially generated by AI” to the public.
“Bernie Sanders proposes 50% state stake in AI firms; Trump eyes stock purchases; Anthropic urges pause while going public.”
But two authors of a new book, Rewiring Democracy, say there is a better way. Nathan E Sanders and Bruce Schneier agree that the most urgent risk posed by AI is the concentration of power among tech oligarchs. Yet they argue that “energy taxation is a straightforward way to make AI companies pay for the social disruption of their technologies”, rather than taking equity.
Across the political aisle, Donald Trump is also eyeing a stake in AI companies — but for different reasons. The former president said last week that his administration would “look into” taking financial stakes in the US’s leading artificial intelligence firms. Sam Altman has reportedly participated in discussions with senior White House officials. Trump told reporters on Friday: “There’s something very interesting about it, where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public. We’ll look into that.”
Trump’s approach appears to prioritise growth. He issued a watered-down executive order on AI model review last week and another demanding the US military accelerate AI adoption. He had postponed signing the review order in late May, telling reporters: “We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s gonna get in the way of that lead.” The earlier version would have enforced mandatory review 90 days before release.
The contradictions within the AI industry itself are deepening. Anthropic — one of the companies Sanders wants to partly nationalise — has advocated for a “pause” on AI advancement, days after filing to go public on the US stock market. The safety-first posture sits awkwardly with its rush to market.
As OpenAI and Anthropic race to become trillion-dollar companies, the question of who controls AI — and who benefits — remains unresolved.