The idea of the US government taking an equity stake in the country’s leading AI companies has gone from fringe policy discussion to genuine Washington debate. Former President Donald Trump floated the concept as part of his broader push to keep the US ahead of China in the AI race.

Joel Kaplan, Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer, has positioned himself squarely in support of Trump’s broader AI Action Plan, a July 2025 strategy built around deregulation and domestic investment.

The AI Action Plan vs. the ownership question

Kaplan has publicly backed the AI Action Plan, arguing it would enhance American innovation, create jobs, and strengthen national security. Meta has put its money where its mouth is, pledging hundreds of billions of dollars into US AI infrastructure, including data centers.

Trump’s proposal specifically targeted equity stakes in leading AI firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. Those discussions reportedly started in early 2025, with direct engagement between Trump and AI executives including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Strange bedfellows in the ownership debate

Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bill advocating for a 50% government stake in AI firms. Meanwhile, David Sacks, who served as Trump’s AI czar, has cautioned against what he sees as dangerous government-corporate fusion.

Sanders’ 50% ownership model represents the most aggressive version of the proposal. His argument centers on the idea that AI will displace workers and concentrate wealth at unprecedented levels, and that public ownership is the only mechanism to ensure those gains are broadly shared.

Meta’s position in the broader landscape

Meta occupies a unique position in this debate. Unlike OpenAI, which started as a nonprofit and has undergone a complicated restructuring, or Anthropic and xAI, which are still privately held and venture-backed, Meta is a publicly traded company with an established shareholder base.

Notably, no public statements from Kaplan have been found dismissing government ownership of AI firms, indicating a cautious stance on potential public-private collaborations.

Meta’s commitment of hundreds of billions into domestic AI infrastructure also serves as a preemptive argument against government ownership, with private capital already flowing at scale into American AI development.

What this means for investors

If government stakes are limited to OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, as Trump’s initial proposal suggested, companies like Meta and Google could gain a structural advantage, operating without government board seats or political oversight while their competitors navigate a new and untested hybrid model.