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WASHINGTON — <\/span>It was perhaps a surprising private overture from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman<\/a> to Sen. Bernie Sanders.<\/p>\n The meeting between the two had come just after the Vermont senator<\/a> announced a plan for the public to take a 50% ownership stake in artificial intelligence companies such as OpenAI, using their stock to create a public wealth fund that would spread the fortune generated by AI behemoths. <\/p>\n Altman told Sanders that he, too, wants the public to have equity in AI companies. Though the CEO said he couldn\u2019t support Sanders\u2019 threshold of 50%, he nonetheless wanted to work with him to advocate for the general idea, according to people with knowledge of the conversation.<\/p>\n The nearly hourlong meeting in Sanders\u2019 Senate office this week, held at Altman’s request, highlighted the inherent tension between AI powerhouses<\/a> and policymakers as Americans are increasingly asked to accept the costs of the AI boom even as they remain unconvinced of its direct benefits. Yet it’s also creating odd political bedfellows fueled by populism as politicians from Sanders to President Donald Trump embrace giving the public a stake in AI’s growth. <\/p>\n Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Friday, Trump described a potential partnership \u201cwhere the American people can benefit from the success of AI” and said executives from leading AI companies will visit the White House, \u201cprobably next week,\u201d to discuss the idea. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s something very interesting about it, where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public,\u201d Trump, a Republican, said Friday. <\/p>\n When reporters noted to Trump that Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, had proposed public ownership in AI companies, he pointed to similarities in their coalitions. The economic views of Trump voters and voters who supported Sanders for president, Trump said, \u201caren\u2019t that far apart.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has embraced government investment in private companies in his second term, scrambling his party\u2019s politics. His administration last year secured a 10% stake<\/a> in the struggling Silicon Valley company Intel, and it considered a government takeover of Spirit Airlines earlier this year, although the airline couldn\u2019t reach a deal and ultimately closed<\/a>.<\/p>\n The positioning of leading figures such as Trump and Sanders comes as concerns about AI are emerging far beyond Washington. <\/p>\n In Michigan, Democrats recently clashed over Gov. Gretchen Whitmer\u2019s appearance with Altman at the site of a major data center. Candidates such as New York Democratic House<\/a> hopeful Alex Bores have also made AI regulation a campaign issue by tapping into voters\u2019 angst about the technology.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a real change to society,\u201d Altman told reporters this week. \u201cI think it\u2019s possible both that people can use AI a lot and like using it and also have anxiety about what it\u2019s going to do for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Data center projects across the country have drawn opposition from residents concerned about electricity demand, water consumption and environmental impacts. Some states once eager to attract the facilities, including Ohio and Virginia, have moved to reconsider tax incentives.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to pass legislation right now that says there\u2019s not going to be any further data center development until they agree to pay for their own electricity, build their own grids and pay for their own water supply,\u201d Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a leading Republican skeptic of Big Tech, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Before arriving in Washington, Altman stopped in Michigan on Monday to appear alongside Whitmer, a Democrat, at the building site of a 1.65 million-square-foot data center. Whitmer\u2019s team claimed the project will create more than 2,500 union construction jobs.<\/p>\n But it also drew criticism from local activists and some Democrats, including Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who called the project \u201cdisgusting.\u201d She said she was \u201cso disappointed\u201d in Whitmer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very controversial topic right now and it\u2019s coming from the ground up,\u201d Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, said about the grassroots pushback. \u201cPeople feel very strongly about it.” <\/p>\n Whitmer, however, told reporters after the event that \u201cone thing\u2019s very clear, everyone has a cellphone in our pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are all, more and more, consuming technology and data and these data centers are going to get built. So, my thought is if we can hold them to a high standard and do it in Michigan, that\u2019s the best way to do it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The tensions extend beyond data centers. On college campuses<\/a>, commencement speakers have been interrupted by boos when discussing artificial intelligence. About 70% of college students see AI as a threat to their job prospects, according to a 2025 poll by the Institute of Politics<\/a> at the Harvard Kennedy School.<\/p>\n Altman acknowledged those concerns. He said that while \u201cthe impact on jobs has been less than many people in our field expected,” he understands \u201cthat college students have a lot of anxiety about the future.”<\/p>\n The idea that AI\u2019s expansion is inevitable is increasingly shared by leaders across the political spectrum, even as they disagree sharply about how to manage it.<\/p>\n That reality was at the center of Altman\u2019s conversations in Washington. In addition to Sanders, Altman met with Trump administration officials such as Michael Kratsios, the White House’s chief science and technology adviser, and congressional leaders from both parties. <\/p>\n Sanders’ team emphasized that the two did not reach an agreement on the main points that the senator made to Altman, including the 50% figure so the public has decision-making power. Sanders also expressed opposition to the growing election spending by the AI industry. <\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, Sam Altman did not commit to any of those,\u201d said Sanders’ spokesperson Jeremy Slevin.<\/p>\n Altman, in emerging from the conversation, described it as \u201cgreat,\u201d adding that the two \u201cobviously don\u2019t agree on everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Congress this week released a bipartisan framework that would establish the first broad federal approach to AI regulation while temporarily preempting many state laws.<\/p>\n Anthropic, one of OpenAI\u2019s top competitors, has proposed mechanisms<\/a> for coordinating pauses on advanced AI development if systems become too powerful.<\/p>\n