When Silicon Valley Wants to Partner With Caesar: OpenAI, Trump, and the Soul of AI
TL;DR: OpenAI's proposal to give the US government an ownership stake is a dangerous entanglement of corporate and state power that Christians should oppose on biblical grounds of justice and stewardship.
When a company offers the government a piece of itself, it's not generosity; it's a play for power. And that's exactly what we're seeing with OpenAI 's startling proposal this week to the Trump administration .
The news is that OpenAI has floated the idea of giving the US government a 5% ownership stake in the company. The stated goal, according to reporting, is to ease public and political tensions over AI's explosive growth . OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly believes this would align the company's financial success with the public interest. On the surface, it sounds like a forward-thinking gesture of public-private partnership.
As a Christian, a software developer, and a dad trying to make sense of this world for my kids, I see it differently. This isn't just a business deal. It's a profound ethical and spiritual question about power, stewardship, and the lines we must draw between the institutions that shape our lives. Giving Caesar a seat at the corporate boardroom is a move we should scrutinize with immense care.
Power, Stewardship, and the Fulness Thereof
This proposal doesn't happen in a vacuum. It lands just as the Trump administration is actively shaping its AI policy, having recently dropped restrictions on models from rival company Anthropic . The race to influence, and be influenced by, Washington is on. OpenAI 's offer is a strategic masterstroke to get ahead of regulation by becoming part of the regulator.
But the Bible gives us a different framework for thinking about ownership and power. It starts with a simple, foundational truth:
The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
(Psalm 24:1, KJV)
God is the ultimate owner. We are merely stewards. This applies to the land we farm, the money we earn, and yes, the algorithms we write. This principle of stewardship is central to understanding why the question of who owns this technology is so critical. When we ask who should control AI, we are asking who can best steward this powerful gift for the good of humanity and the glory of God. An entangled, self-interested partnership between a mega-corporation and the government does not feel like the right answer.
The Conflict of Interest Isn't a Bug, It's the Feature
The central problem with OpenAI 's proposal is the glaring conflict of interest it creates. How can the government be an impartial referee for the AI industry when it has a financial stake in the success of the biggest player on the field? It can't.
The very purpose of regulation is to stand apart from the industry it oversees, representing the public's interest in safety, fairness, and competition. If the government becomes a part-owner, its incentive shifts. Its new goal becomes maximizing the return on its investment, which means protecting and promoting OpenAI , even at the expense of competitors or the public good.
This is why, as believers, we must advocate for a clear AI ethics framework from a Christian perspective that prioritizes justice. Justice requires impartiality. It demands that the rules apply equally to everyone. This proposal does the opposite; it creates a special, privileged relationship that undermines the very possibility of a level playing field.
But Isn't This Good for America?
Now, I can hear the counter-argument. A friend in my small group might say, "Wait, isn't this a good thing? The government gets a seat at the table and a share of the profits from this world-changing technology. It ensures AI is developed in the national interest and the public reaps the financial rewards."
This view is tempting, but I believe it's naive about the biblical reality of sin and the nature of concentrated power. It assumes that government, once given a financial stake, will act as a pure and selfless steward. But government is made of fallen people. History, and Scripture, teaches us that entangling overwhelming financial incentive with state power is a recipe for corruption, not accountability.
We need structures that recognize our fallenness and guard against it. We need checks and balances. This proposal removes them. Instead of fostering a diverse AI ecosystem with clear, fair rules for all, it anoints a national champion. This creates some of the same ethical challenges we've seen in other contexts, like when we consider the implications of AI companies partnering with the Pentagon . The goals of the institution and the company become dangerously intertwined.
A Better Way: Principled Regulation, Not Entangled Ownership
So, what's the alternative? It's not a lawless, unregulated tech wild west. The answer is wise, principled regulation that is developed and enforced impartially. We need to focus on building guardrails, not on picking winners.
Here’s how these two approaches stack up:
Feature · Entangled Ownership (OpenAI Proposal) · Principled Regulation
Relationship · Government as shareholder · Government as impartial referee
Incentive · Maximize OpenAI 's success and profit · Protect the public and ensure fair competition
Accountability · Blurred; invites cronyism and corruption · Clear lines of authority and oversight
Fairness · Favors one company, creating a monopoly · Creates a level playing field for all innovators
As Christian technologists, our calling is to advocate for this second path. We should push for laws that demand transparency in how models are trained, accountability when they cause harm, and protections for human dignity and privacy. As I've written before, the work of developing ethical AI as a Christian technologist is fundamentally about serving our neighbors through the tools we build and the policies we support.
This debate is happening right now, in the halls of power and in our own homes. As you think and pray through these complex topics, it's a great time to dig into what Scripture says about governance, justice, and power. At FaithGPT , we're building a tool to help you do just that , using AI to help you explore the Bible and deepen your understanding, always pointing you back to the authority of the Word itself.
To that end, here are a few questions we should all be asking about this proposal and others like it:
Does this arrangement promote justice and fairness for all, or does it create a new class of powerful insiders?
How does this structure account for the reality of human sin and the temptation of concentrated power?
Who is truly being served by this partnership: the public or the powerful?
Does this model honor God as the ultimate owner and hold human leaders accountable as humble stewards?
Mixing the power of the state with the power of big tech this way doesn't create accountability; it consecrates a monopoly.
Helpful Scripture resources
Contact & support
Email the FaithGPT team at hello@faithgpt.io or visit the contact page .
Explore FaithGPT
