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Interior Secretary Burgum Holds Millions in AI Investments While Pushing Data Centers on Public Lands, ProPublica Reports

Bot Mutiny | November 6, 2026

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who is leading the Trump administration's push to open federal public lands to AI data centers, holds much of his wealth in Arthur Ventures, an investment firm he co-founded, according to his 2026 financial disclosure form. ProPublica reported on November 6, 2026 that between $18.1 million and $64.4 million of those investments are in AI companies, based on an analysis of the companies' marketing materials by the public lands advocacy group Save Our Parks. The Interior Department told ProPublica that Burgum "has met his federal ethics and financial disclosure obligations" and that any suggestion his decisions are driven by personal investments is "false and completely unsupported."

What the disclosure shows

According to ProPublica, much of Burgum's wealth is held in Arthur Ventures, a firm he co-founded. His 2026 disclosure, which ProPublica said had not been previously reported, lists those holdings. The $18.1 million to $64.4 million figure comes from an analysis of the companies' marketing materials shared with ProPublica by the public lands advocacy group Save Our Parks. Government disclosure forms let filers report wide ranges rather than exact values.

ProPublica reported that in the year before Burgum joined the administration, when he was North Dakota's governor, he made between $2.1 million and $11 million in capital gains from AI-related investments, per Save Our Parks' analysis. In 2025 he sold stocks and equity in AI companies for capital gains of between $2.5 million and $15.1 million, ProPublica reported. In the ethics agreement he signed for his Senate confirmation, he agreed to resign his positions at Arthur Ventures but not to give up his financial interests there.

The push for data centers on public land

The administration has compared the need to build out AI infrastructure to the Manhattan Project, ProPublica reported, and Burgum has called it an "AI arms race" with China. A U.S. Geological Survey report released earlier this year found at least 91.3 million acres of Interior-managed public land, an area comparable to Montana, could potentially host data centers, according to ProPublica.

Unlike local or state permitting, where concerns about water use, power consumption and secrecy have slowed or halted projects, ProPublica wrote, the public has less ability to stop data centers on federal property. Burgum met with representatives of companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet more than 20 times from January through November 2025, according to a compilation of his schedules that the watchdog group Public Citizen shared with ProPublica. The Interior spokesperson said Burgum "is responsible for helping unleash American energy production and ensuring our nation has the resources and infrastructure necessary to lead the future. That mission requires engagement with industry leaders, stakeholders, and international partners." In October, several Democratic senators wrote to Burgum demanding that he "immediately cease all efforts to hijack public lands for the development of data centers."

The Bureau of Land Management is reviewing permit applications for about 15 data centers and 17 associated infrastructure projects in Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and Idaho, according to an agency spokesperson and the agency's Mineral & Land Records System. The first planned data center on BLM land, near Boulder City, Nevada, was approved by the BLM in June as a change to a solar plant permit, without studying the environmental implications; an Interior Department appeals board has since paused it and sent it back for further review, ProPublica reported.

What ethics experts told ProPublica

Ethics professors and lawyers told ProPublica that a criminal statute sets a high burden of proof and that Burgum's investments appear to be acceptable under it. Cynthia Brown, senior ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said separate rules without criminal penalties "instruct officials not to work on anything that would create the appearance of a conflict of interest," and that this would include Burgum's support for data centers on federal land while holding AI investments.

Richard Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor and President George W. Bush's chief ethics lawyer, said: "In the Bush administration, the answer would've been 'he has to recuse,' I can guarantee you that."

Other officials with AI holdings

ProPublica reported that other officials hold AI-related investments. Bureau of Land Management Director Steve Pearce owned stock in Nvidia, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Apple and Alphabet, according to his most recent disclosure, and is invested in Titan Development, a real estate company that has managed land acquisitions for data centers. He pledged to divest many of his AI investments but not Titan. A BLM spokesperson said Pearce "complies with all applicable federal ethics requirements and financial disclosure obligations."

Michael Boren, now a U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary overseeing the Forest Service, reported about $1.5 million to $6.1 million in financial interests in xAI, which has since been acquired by SpaceX, and up to $500,000 in Valar Atomics, which is pushing a data center complex on BLM land in Utah, ProPublica reported. A USDA spokesperson said Boren "has fully complied with all federal ethics laws and requirements."

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin bought and sold up to $15,000 of shares in Datavault AI in May 2025, according to ProPublica. An EPA spokesperson said he followed every ethical rule and was cleared by agency ethics officials.

Across the administration, ProPublica's database of financial disclosures shows 380 of President Donald Trump's political appointees or their spouses hold stocks or other financial connections to Nvidia, more than 320 have ties to Alphabet, and more than 240 have ties to Meta Platforms.