President Donald Trump publicly signaled support for a federal “partnership” model with AI companies after Sen. Bernie Sanders advanced legislation that would give the government a major equity stake in leading AI firms. The move highlights how quickly AI policy debates are converging on ownership, not just regulation. In parallel, Trump’s former AI czar David Sacks criticized a 50% government-ownership bill, calling it a “stupidity tax” while warning that nationalization could deepen corporate-government “fusion” and undermine trust. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei had also been walking back earlier “job apocalypse” messaging amid preparations for major IPOs. The episode underscores how Washington’s approach to AI is shifting from abstract oversight to concrete economic participation. That shift is likely to feed into how universities and workforce programs think about AI skill-building and compliance, as students increasingly prepare for roles shaped by public-private AI structures.