I don't think he's planning to

Unfortunately, you have to. It's in the Constitution, see the Takings Clause.

During the Revolutionary War, the Continental army caused a lot of ill will by simply seizing supplies from civilians without compensation. The army was desperate. They didn't have money. So sometimes they just took what they needed.

In response to this, James Madison made sure to write into the Constitution that the federal government cannot take any property without paying its owner the fair market value of the property. The government can take your house in eminent domain if it needs to build a highway, but it has to pay you the value of your house in exchange.

I suppose the federal government could start up its own federal AI initiative, using government-owned data centers. But there's no way for it to nationalize the AI companies without purchasing them at fair market value. And while there are plenty of things this administration is willing to ignore the constitution for, this isn't one of them.

Not gonna lie, it was a terrible idea from him.

It wasn't his idea.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/a-plan-for-establishing-a-united-states-sovereign-wealth-fund/ https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/06/openais-vision-for-the-ai-economy-public-wealth-funds-robot-taxes-and-a-four-day-work-week/

Knowing that the US government and these evil companies are already working together and have each other's backs I can not imagine they will allow simply handing over 50% as Bernie suggests.

My guess is it sounds more positive and harmless when it's suggested by the man of the people, and fighter of oligarchies.
He is priming the public.
After some debates and discussions I see the final result being that wealth fund INVESTING and BUYING 50%.
And even then Bernie will sell it as a great deal.
He talks about "the trillions of dollars potentially generated by A.I. are used to improve the lives of all of us"

Of course the reality is there are no profits, on the contrary, they have massive debt.
Billions invested and for little return.
Plenty experts say stock is highly overvalued and the AI bubble will burst, another 2008 disaster waiting to happen.

If they want to sell now it means the stock is at his highest price and that crash is not far.
Dumping 50% of that stock on the taxpayer will make some rich people even more rich and the public will be left holding the (empty) bag.

It's a pre-emptive bailout, nothing more.

The first thing the AI Bros want, and the absolute last thing I want, is for my country and social security to get entangled in a pyramid scheme.

i've got bad news for you then... 🧑‍🚀🔫🧑‍🚀

Glad to know I wasn't the only one who was thinking it

seizing the means of production = giving the bourgeois state 50% ownership

Yea ok

Communists recognize that nationalization by a capitalist state is not a furthering of the aims of socialism, but instead is largely done to entrench and manage capitalism. This is why the working classes need to smash and replace the state with a working class state. When you analyze with a class outlook, it becomes easier to see why this isn't necessarily a progressive move and why communists aren't fans of it.