Interior Secretary Doug Burgum Maintains AI Holdings While Leading Federal Data Center Push

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum holds millions of dollars in artificial intelligence investments through an investment firm he co-founded, according to financial disclosure records. The federal disclosures indicate that between $18.1 million and $64.4 million of investments tied to Arthur Ventures are in AI-related companies, based on an analysis of company marketing materials shared by the public lands advocacy group Save Our Parks.

The Trump administration has prioritized artificial intelligence infrastructure, comparing the initiative to the Manhattan Project and framing the technology as a critical national security issue. Burgum, who serves as the White House point person on the effort, described the situation during his January 2025 Senate confirmation hearing as an existential arms race with China. He stated that the United States must manufacture intelligence to protect domestic jobs, companies, and industries.

Prior to joining the federal administration, Burgum served as governor of North Dakota. Analysis of his financial records showed he generated between $2.1 million and $11 million in capital gains from AI investments in the year preceding his appointment, and sold millions more in stocks and equity in 2025, yielding capital gains between $2.5 million and $15.1 million. Under the ethics agreement he signed for Senate confirmation, Burgum resigned from his positions at Arthur Ventures but retained his financial interests.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of the Interior defended the Secretary in a statement to ProPublica, asserting that Burgum has fulfilled all federal ethics and financial disclosure obligations. The spokesperson rejected any assertion that departmental decisions are influenced by personal investments, calling such suggestions false and unsupported.

Legal and ethics experts hold differing views on the arrangements. According to ethics professors and lawyers consulted by ProPublica, Burgum's investments appear to comply with the high burden of proof required under criminal statutes governing federal officials. However, Cynthia Brown, senior ethics counsel with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, argued that non-criminal ethics rules instruct officials to avoid matters creating the appearance of a conflict, which would include supporting data centers on federal land while maintaining AI investments.

Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and former chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, supported that assessment. Painter stated that under past administration standards, Burgum would be required to recuse himself from decisions benefiting an industry in which he maintains substantial financial stakes. ProPublica's analysis of financial disclosures further notes that hundreds of other Trump administration political appointees or their spouses maintain financial connections to major technology companies involved in the data center expansion, including Nvidia, Alphabet, and Meta Platforms.