President Donald Trump has said he intends to meet with executives from leading artificial intelligence firms to explore the U.S. government obtaining a financial stake in their businesses, an idea he described on Air Force One as forging a bond between the state and ordinary citizens. The remarks follow earlier reports that Trump’s administration has already pursued similar government ownership positions in companies like US Steel and Intel. According to the Financial Times, OpenAI has responded by offering the federal government a 5% equity share, valued at roughly $42.6 billion, in an apparent effort to ease political pressure. The proposal marks a notable pivot for a political movement that frequently denounces Democratic policies as socialist, while now considering direct federal investment in private industry.