President says government has discussed taking stakes in AI firms; cites prior Intel deal

At a gaggle, the president raised the concept of the government or public taking stakes in AI companies as a way to share the sector's gains with Americans.

Why it matters: The idea — pairing public ownership or dividend-like distributions with private AI firms — would be an unconventional industrial-policy approach with broad implications for markets, corporate governance and public finance if pursued.

The president told reporters the federal government previously took a stake in Intel and said that deal produced about "$50,000,000,000." Asked whether the U.S. might take stakes in AI companies, he said "it's something" and recounted how the Intel arrangement worked as a model.

He said he has scheduled a meeting in the near term with "all of the companies" to discuss concepts where "the American public essentially becomes a partner with the companies" and suggested such arrangements could increase public support for domestic AI leadership and help the U.S. "lead everybody in the world with AI."

Sen. Bernie Sanders was mentioned by a reporter as having proposed a 50% managed public-private structure; the president said he had been discussing similar ideas for about a year and that some of Sanders' proposals were not far apart from his thinking.

What comes next: The president said a meeting with technology companies is expected in the near future; no formal policy, legislative proposal, or legal mechanism was announced at the gaggle.