Universal Basic Capital: Why Both Trump And Bernie Sanders Want To Give Americans AI Equity

Topline

The Trump administration is in talks with AI companies about potentially acquiring a stake in them in order to distribute equity to the American public, multiple outlets report, marking a step forward toward what’s known as “universal basic capital,” a proposal that’s started to attract momentum from politicians on both sides of the aisle as a way to deal with the rise of AI.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends a White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education meeting at the White House on Sept. 4, 2025.

Key Facts

“Universal basic capital,” or UBC, broadly refers to giving Americans investment accounts and seeding them with equity—potentially focusing on AI companies, though not necessarily—in order to help people build wealth and stem the potential impacts of AI taking jobs.

The Trump administration has been in talks with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about an arrangement that would give the U.S. equity in AI companies—likely by the companies handing over shares voluntarily—NOTUS first reported based on anonymous sources and CNBC later confirmed.

The money they collect could then be distributed to Americans through dividend payments, NOTUS reports, or otherwise be used for some “public purpose.”

NOTUS’ reporting comes after politicians on both sides of the aisle had already backed the idea of UBC, with Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signing an executive order in May that includes a directive for California to study implementing it, and Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy cheering the idea in a December op-ed for The New York Times.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also said Monday he intends to introduce legislation that would establish a similar concept to UBC, in which the government would levy a one-time 50% tax on AI companies that would be used to create a new government sovereign wealth fund.

AI leaders have touted UBC and similar proposals recently as…

Source