OpenAI Reportedly Pitches Granting U.S. Government 5% Stake

Topline OpenAI is in talks to potentially give the Trump administration a 5% stake in the company, according to the Financial Times, as calls for the American public to benefit from AI companies’ financial windfall finds bipartisan support. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reportedly engaged in talks with President Donald Trump and other White House officials about this proposal. Getty Images

Key Facts

Citing two unnamed sources, the Financial Times reported that the ChatGPT-maker held preliminary talks with the U.S. government. The proposal reportedly being pushed by OpenAI also calls for other U.S. AI giants to grant the government a 5% stake—although it’s unclear whether any other company would agree. The move could help boost OpenAI’s relationship with the Trump administration as the White House regulates the rollout of advanced models such as Anthropic’s Mythos and OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 . Talks have been “conceptual” talks so far, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman engaging directly with President Donald Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the FT report said.

News Peg

According to the report, the OpenAI’s proposal seeks to replicate the Alaska Permanent Fund, a sovereign wealth fund established in 1976 to invest the state’s surplus oil revenues. The fund pays out an annual dividend to the state’s residents, and as of May 31, it was valued at nearly $91.2 billion . It’s unclear which other companies would be on board to contribute to the fund, but OpenAI’s key competitors include Anthropic, Google and Meta. It's also unclear if semiconductor giants like Nvidia, Micron and AMD—which have also benefited from the AI boom—would be expected to join.

what has openAi said previously about profit sharing?

In April, OpenAI published a document outlining what it said was a new industrial policy to deal with the impact of so-called “superintelligence,” which it described as AI that can outperform even the smartest humans. Among other things, the policy document called for the creation of a Public Wealth Fund that would give the American people an automatic stake in AI companies and infrastructure—even if they are not investing directly in financial markets. The document also proposed four-day work weeks, raising corporate tax rates to compensate for loss in income taxes and taxing businesses that replace human workers with AI.

What Has Trump Said About Government Ownership In AI Companies?

Last year, the U.S. government acquired a 10% stake in struggling semiconductor giant Intel. Since then, the president and members of his administration have proposed taking stakes in other chipmaking and AI companies. Last month, Trump told reporters he was hearing “concepts where pieces could be given to the American public, where the American public essentially becomes a partner with the companies.” The president called the idea “interesting” and said his administration will “look into that.”

tangent

According to the FT, Altman has also held conversations with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Last month, the progressive senator pushed for a more expansive version of the purported OpenAI proposal that would see the U.S. government take a 50% stake in all major AI companies through a sovereign wealth fund.

further reading

OpenAI proposes handing Trump administration 5% stake (Financial Times)

Four Day Work Weeks, Public Wealth Fund: OpenAI’s Ideas For Our AI Future (Forbes)