The Trump administration is exploring an idea that could give the American public a direct financial stake in the artificial intelligence boom. In a recent appearance on The Diary of a CEO podcast with host Steven Bartlett, Vice President JD Vance said President Donald Trump is supportive of creating a US sovereign wealth fund that could buy equity stakes in some of America’s biggest AI companies. 

The clip of the segment has now gone viral on social media as it touches on a growing concern: With AI companies becoming more valuable, how can ordinary Americans benefit from that wealth instead of seeing it concentrated in the hands of a few firms and investors? 

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The comments also drew a response from Musk, whose fortune recently climbed after SpaceX’s historic IPO pushed the company’s valuation above $2 trillion. While Vance argued that the public should share in the upside from transformative technologies through equity ownership, Musk said direct payments to citizens would be a better approach.

Giving Americans a share of the AI boom 

During the conversation, Vance described the proposal as a form of “predistribution,” an approach that aims to give people a share of economic gains before governments step in later through taxes and redistribution programs. 

He argued that the biggest challenge from technological revolutions is not always job losses. Looking back at the Industrial Revolution, Vance said enormous wealth was created, but much of it ended up in the hands of a small group of people. According to him, that concentration of wealth contributed to political instability in parts of Europe and helped create conditions that led to the rise of communism and fascism.

Vance said the United States largely avoided those extremes and stressed that workers should have “a seat at the table” as AI reshapes the economy.

Elon Musk pushes back

The proposal, however, soon attracted criticism from Elon Musk, who has worked closely with the administration on other government initiatives. Rather than having the government own shares in private companies, Musk argued that any gains should be passed directly to citizens.

Writing on X, Musk said: “Better just to send money directly to the people from the Treasury. So long as the increase in goods & services exceeds the increase in the money supply, which will be the case with AI & robots, there will not be inflation. In fact, my prediction is that we will desperately be fighting deflation!”

Musk believes AI and robotics will dramatically increase productivity and create an abundance of goods and services. In his view, direct payments would be simpler and less disruptive than government ownership stakes in private businesses. 

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Vance Points to Intel Investment as a Model 

To explain how such a system could work, Vance pointed to the federal government’s investment in Intel under the CHIPS and Science Act. He said the government’s roughly $8.9 billion investment was structured in a way that allowed taxpayers to benefit as the company’s value increased. According to Vance, those holdings eventually became worth tens of billions of dollars. 

Using a similar approach with AI companies, he argued, could generate great returns for the public because AI firms are now reaching enormous valuations. He cited OpenAI as an example, adding reports that the company has been valued at around $852 billion. 

Sander’s proposal comes up

Vance also discussed a recent proposal from Bernie Sanders, who has suggested that the public should own 50% of large AI companies and use the proceeds to fund annual payments to Americans.

Under Sanders’ idea, citizens could potentially receive dividends of about $1,000 a year.

While Vance did not endorse a 50% public ownership model, he said Trump is receptive to a more moderate version in which a sovereign wealth fund would capture some of the financial upside from AI growth and return it to the public.

Debate over government’s role in AI

The idea has sparked a fierce debate among economists, investors and political commentators.

Critics, especially those from free-market and libertarian circles, argue that government ownership in private companies could distort markets, discourage innovation and move the country closer to state control of industry.

Supporters see the proposal differently. They compare it to successful public investment models such as Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and Alaska’s Permanent Fund. They argue that if taxpayers help support technological development, they should also share in the rewards when those technologies generate massive profits. 

Many supporters also believe such a system could reduce public anger over rising inequality if AI ends up creating enormous fortunes for a small number of companies and investors. 

The discussion follows earlier comments from Trump about AI companies finding ways to “give back” to the public, whether through equity ownership or other arrangements. 

However, many questions remain unanswered. It is still unclear how large the government’s stakes would be, which companies could be included, how the fund would be structured legally, and how any returns would eventually be distributed to Americans.

Vance acknowledged during the interview that many of those details still need to be worked out.