OpenAI discussed a 5% US stake as AI policy pressure grows
Sam Altman floated giving Washington an equity stake in OpenAI, the Financial Times reported, as officials look for ways to share AI gains.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
OpenAI has discussed giving the U.S. government a 5% ownership stake in the company, the Financial Times reported. The proposal would tie Washington directly to the financial upside of artificial intelligence at a time when policymakers are weighing how to regulate and profit from the sector.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman raised the idea as a way to reduce friction with the Trump administration and address public concern about who benefits from AI, the Financial Times reported, citing two unnamed people familiar with the discussions. The report said Altman argued that a public stake would be the most effective way to share gains from the technology.
The 5% figure came from Altman, according to the Financial Times. Based on OpenAI’s most recent funding round, which valued the company at $852 billion, such a stake would be worth about $42.6 billion, The Verge reported.
Talks remain preliminary
The discussions are still at an early stage, according to the Financial Times. The proposal would not be limited to OpenAI: other U.S. AI companies would also be asked to provide similar stakes to the federal government, the report said.
It is not clear whether those companies would accept such an arrangement, according to the Financial Times. The Verge previously reported that Altman had discussed the possibility of a government stake with Trump early last year.
The proposal comes as the Trump administration takes a more direct role in AI policy and industrial strategy. The Verge reported that the administration has taken steps affecting Anthropic, one of OpenAI’s main rivals, including a Pentagon designation that labeled the company a supply chain risk earlier this year.
The Verge also reported that the administration placed export controls last month on Anthropic’s latest models, a move that forced the company to remove them from the market. The report said those interventions raised concern about future government action in the U.S. AI industry.
Washington eyes AI wealth
Government officials have shown growing interest in capturing part of the wealth created by AI and related technology, according to The Verge. Under Trump, the U.S. government has already taken a 10% stake in Intel, the outlet reported.
The Verge also reported that the administration demanded Nvidia and AMD provide the federal government with 15% of revenue from AI chip sales to China. Those moves put the OpenAI discussions in a broader pattern of federal efforts to extract financial returns from strategically important technology companies.
Other policymakers have pushed more aggressive ideas. Sen. Bernie Sanders has argued that AI should be treated as a public resource, according to The New York Times, and has proposed a one-time 50% tax on the stock value of major AI companies to create a sovereign wealth fund, Thomson Reuters reported.
No final deal involving OpenAI has been announced. The Financial Times report describes the equity proposal as a way under discussion for the AI industry to give the public a direct financial claim on its growth while seeking to avoid more burdensome regulation.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.