Warren Presses Trump Administration on Plans to Prop Up OpenAI and Big Tech with Taxpayer Dollars at the Expense of Working Class Americans
“We have seen this before: take on enough debt, make enough risky bets, and then demand a taxpayer bailout when those bets go south so the economy does not crash.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a letter to David Sacks, White House Special Advisor for AI and Crypto, and Michael Kratsios, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, requesting information about the Trump Administration’s potential plans to use taxpayer dollars to prop up OpenAI and other AI companies at the expense of working class Americans. Warren noted the Trump Administration’s close ties with AI executives and donors raise concerns that the Administration could bail out AI executives and shareholders while leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.
“OpenAI has been publicly pushing the federal government to ‘lean in’ and assist the industry by ‘de-risking’ AI expansion, including by expanding federal tax incentives and loan guarantees for AI companies,” wrote Ranking Member Warren. “The Trump Administration’s close ties with AI executives and donors—including millions of dollars of contributions to President Trump’s new ballroom project—raise concerns that the Administration will bail out AI executives and shareholders while leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.”
The Ranking Member raised concerns about how backstopping risky bets by OpenAI with tax credits and loan guarantees could cost working families and put taxpayers at risk while billionaire executives and investors reap all the benefits: “OpenAI’s attempts to obtain tax credits and loan guarantees are highly concerning, given that OpenAI recently reported one of the biggest quarterly losses for a tech company in history . . . OpenAI is also pursuing risky investments backed by tens of billions of dollars of debt and increasingly complex financing deals.”
She continued: “OpenAI’s actions suggest that it may be pursuing a deliberate strategy to entangle itself with the federal government and the broader economy so the government has no choice but to step in with public funds. We have seen this before: take on enough debt, make enough risky bets, and then demand a taxpayer bailout when those bets go south so the economy does not crash.”
The Ranking Member concluded by requesting details on any plans the Administration has to provide governmental assistance to AI companies and any meetings with AI companies related to such plans no later than December 1, 2025.
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