Republicans freak out over Trump's 'socialism push'

President Donald Trump has become increasingly vocal with his suggestions that the government buy substantial stakes in artificial intelligence companies, and according to NOTUS, a growing number of Republican lawmakers are worried about his “AI socialism push.”

“I don’t think the federal government should be in the business of being an equity holder in private companies,” said Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. And even Senator Josh Hawley (R-MS), who has advocated for the government to become more involved with AI, has expressed his hesitancy toward Trump’s idea, saying, “I’m not a huge fan of the government owning industry, and I think with this you’d combine the worst of the big bureaucrats with the Big Tech monopolist.”

Such statements follow Trump’s Friday announcement that the administration was exploring whether to acquire equity in large AI firms like Anthropic and OpenAI. According to NOTUS, “The idea was initially floated to the president by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who suggested his firm voluntarily cede shares worth billions of dollars to the government as a way to stem public anger over the rise of AI. Trump, too, touted the idea as a response to broad public angst over the rise of AI, as polls continue to show Americans are apprehensive about the potential impact of new data centers and the new technology.” The push comes as the AI giants approach their historically massive initial public offerings.

“There’s so much money, they’re so big, where pieces could be given to the American public,” said Trump to reporters. “There’s something interesting about it.”

According to NOTUS, however, Republicans “have balked at the proposal since it became public — the latest intraparty rupture over the president’s proposed interventions in the economy.”

“I don’t like that idea at all. That’s the reverse of privatization,” said Stephen Moore, an outside adviser to the White House. “There’s a lot of angst over this idea of the government taking shares in private companies. It’s not the proper role for the federal government. You can’t have the government taking private property.”

Other Republicans worry that government involvement with AI would stifle innovation, which has been a party priority ever since Trump took to the inaugural stage flanked by tech CEOs.

“I still think that the private enterprise program is the best,” said Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD). “I’d rather have open competition and not have the government favor one particular type of product because they have a stake in it versus another. I think that could cause us some problems long term.” Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) seconded these sentiments, saying, “Generally I think the private sector should remain the private sector.”

According to NOTUS, “Republican lawmakers were already unhappy with the president’s existing moves to take equity shares in companies, including a 10% share in the chipmaker Intel. Acquiring parts of the AI companies, whose investments have lifted the U.S. economy over the last year, would represent an even bigger move in that direction.”

“They don’t like it at all,” one GOP aide said of the party’s reaction, predicting near-unanimous opposition among the conference to the idea.

“Even if they’re not vocal, Republicans think this is a bad idea,” said Doug Holtz-Eakin, a former adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and the president of the American Action Forum, a center-right think tank. “It’s terrible to talk like this.”

Even those who have worked directly with Trump have argued against the concept. As Vance Ginn, who served as a chief economist in the White House during the president’s first term, posted, “Good to see Cruz and Hawley agreeing on this bad AI socialism push by Trump.”

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