▲ U.S. President Donald Trump and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (far right)
U.S. President Donald Trump has reiterated his plan to share the immense wealth generated by major artificial intelligence (AI) companies with the American public.
President Trump announced on June 10 (local time) that he plans to invite 12 to 15 executives from AI companies to the White House soon for a meeting.
He emphasized that he would discuss ways to give something back to the public at this meeting, adding that if this initiative is realized, Americans would become "very wealthy."
Furthermore, he expressed his expectation that AI companies would participate in the proposal and that the policy would receive overwhelming support from the public.
Reuters interpreted President Trump's remarks as an indication of the U.S. government's intention to directly acquire equity in AI companies.
In fact, President Trump also mentioned on June 5 that he would like to discuss ways to secure stakes when meeting with AI industry leaders, suggesting that the government could provide the acquired shares directly to the American people.
The New York Times noted that President Trump's remarks, coming at a time of growing social backlash against the tech industry, have sparked intense debate in Washington and Silicon Valley.
Currently, voices opposing AI technology are gaining traction in American society due to rising anxieties over job losses caused by AI, soaring energy prices driven by surging demand for data centers, and social unrest.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on June 8, half of Americans expressed concern that the rise of AI could lead to job losses for themselves or their family members.
In a Quinnipiac University survey conducted in March, 55% of respondents defined AI as a harmful force rather than a beneficial technology.
Prior to this, in November of last year, leading AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic had themselves proposed creating a public fund to redistribute their wealth in preparation for large-scale unemployment.
In this regard, The New York Times introduced a potential model for redistribution where the government could establish a sovereign wealth fund to hold stakes in AI companies and distribute the resulting dividends to the public.
The corporate value of OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which are currently pursuing initial public offerings (IPOs), is estimated to be around $1 trillion (approximately 1,500 trillion won).
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.