(Nov 8): Trump administration officials are dismissing the idea of a financial backstop for artificial intelligence (AI) companies, US officials said, after comments from a top OpenAI executive raised questions about the prospects for a federal bailout.
There are no plans for the administration to consider such a move going forward, and the idea is not on the table, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe internal thinking.
The administration’s position marks a fresh signal for the industry of how much the government is willing to intervene in the sector. It follows comments from OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar, who suggested this week that the US government “backstop the guarantee that allows the financing to happen”. Those remarks caught the attention of investors, industry heavyweights and White House advisers.
“There will be no federal bailout for AI,” White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks posted Thursday on X. “The US has at least five major frontier model companies. If one fails, others will take its place.”
OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman, who has met with Trump on multiple occasions, also walked back Friar’s remarks, posting on Thursday that “we do not have or want government guarantees for OpenAI data centres”.
OpenAI has committed to spend US$1.4 trillion on data centres and chips to build more advanced AI systems and support the broader adoption of the technology. The scale of those financial commitments have reignited concerns about an AI bubble, given OpenAI remains an unprofitable business.
See also: Nvidia CEO says no plans to ship ‘anything’ to China in standoff
The prospect of a bailout could prove to be political poison in Washington. Sending taxpayer money to some of the world’s most valuable companies could provoke anger from voters already upset with the high cost of living. Still, US President Donald Trump has stretched the limits of conservative orthodoxy by taking a federal stake in beleaguered chipmaker Intel Corp and eyeing investments in other companies in strategic industries.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Friday, said he wasn’t worried about an AI bubble.
“No, I love AI, I think it’s going to be very helpful,” Trump said during a meeting alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the White House. “It’s really going to be the wave of the future. We are leading the world.”
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