House Republican questions government stake in tech companies

Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., said on Monday that the U.S. needs to pursue a free market approach to ensuring a robust and competitive artificial intelligence sector, adding that he was not supportive of the Trump administration’s strategy to purchase ownership stakes in select tech companies. 

Speaking during an event at the Hudson Institute, McCormick, a member of the House AI Task Force, said that he isn’t “a big fan” of the federal government acquiring shares of companies, such as Intel, citing unfair market practices that come with federal investment — something Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., also took issue with in early September.

“If you start picking winners and losers because you’re invested in certain companies and not in others, it’s going to basically shoulder out all the most innovative, small companies from becoming competitive, because we as a government will become protectionist of the businesses that we have ownership in,” he said. 

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