OpenAI has proposed giving the US government a 5% equity stake in the company, the Financial Times reported Thursday, citing two people familiar with discussions that are still in an early and conceptual stage.
At OpenAI's $852 billion valuation from its March funding round, a 5% holding would be worth approximately $42.6 billion. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman raised the idea directly with President Donald Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, per the FT.
Altman argued that giving the public a financial interest in the company represents the best way to share the economic upside of AI. The proposal envisions a vehicle modeled on the Alaska Permanent Fund, a state-owned fund that invests oil revenues and pays annual dividends to Alaska residents.
The pitch extends beyond OpenAI. Altman reportedly suggested that other major US AI developers, including Anthropic, Google, and Meta, cede similar 5% stakes to the government through the same vehicle. None of those companies have indicated support for the arrangement. A source familiar with Anthropic's situation told CNBC on Thursday that the Trump administration and Anthropic had not discussed the government taking a stake in the company.
What the proposal is responding to
The proposal emerges from a combination of regulatory pressure on AI companies and a broader political debate over who benefits from the industry's rapid growth.
The White House requested that OpenAI limit the release of GPT-5.6 to a small number of government-approved partners because of its advanced capabilities. Anthropic spent most of June under emergency export controls affecting its Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models after the Defense Department raised national security concerns. The US government lifted those restrictions on Tuesday after Anthropic took steps to address policymakers' safety requirements.
Trump told CNBC on Thursday that he considers it "very American" for the federal government to take stakes in private companies.
"Somebody said, 'that's not very American,'" he said. "I said no, 'I think it is very American, actually.'"
He described his decision to invest in Intel in similar terms, as the price for helping to stabilize the company's finances.
Public anxiety about AI is also a factor. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published in June found that half of Americans fear the rise of AI could put them or someone in their household out of work.
Equity as the administration's preferred tool in tech
The proposed OpenAI arrangement follows a pattern the Trump administration has already applied to semiconductor companies. The government took a 9.9% stake in Intel in August 2025, paying $8.9 billion by converting CHIPS Act grants into equity at $20.47 per share. AMD and Nvidia agreed to hand over 15% of their China chip revenues in exchange for export licenses. Trump said in May he should have negotiated a larger stake in Intel.
"The U.S. government took a stake of roughly 10% in Intel and a 15% holding in MP Materials, among others," Reuters noted in its report.
Any deal involving OpenAI could require an act of Congress to implement, the FT said. The discussions were described as conceptual and early-stage, and it remains unclear whether other AI companies would agree to participation.
Forrester analyst Indranil Bandyopadhyay said a pre-IPO government stake could ease investor risk concerns about US regulation but may generate demands from other governments.
"Expect other jurisdictions to demand analogous arrangements as a condition of market access and expect enterprise buyers in Europe and Asia-Pacific to reassess data sovereignty and neutrality assumptions about US model providers," Bandyopadhyay said.
Sanders wants 50% while OpenAI files confidentially for IPO
The 5% figure sits far below what the political left has demanded. Senator Bernie Sanders, who met with Altman in early June, has advocated for the government taking a 50% stake in large AI companies. Sanders has argued the technology is built on human knowledge used without permission or compensation.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic have filed confidentially for initial public offerings. Any government stake agreed before those listings would precede the ownership dilution that comes with a public float. OpenAI also faces a probe from a coalition of 42 state attorneys general, adding regulatory exposure on the domestic front alongside the federal-level conversations.
In April, OpenAI had separately proposed a "public wealth fund" that would "provide every citizen, including those not invested in financial markets, with a stake in AI-driven economic growth." The current proposal is a more direct version of that earlier framing, with equity going directly to a government vehicle rather than a public investment fund.
Gunel Ismayilova
Disclaimer: All materials on this site are for informational purposes only. None of the material should be interpreted as investment advice. Please note that, despite the nature of much of the material created and hosted on this website, HODL FM operates as a media and informational platform, not a provider of financial advisory services. The opinions of authors and other contributors are their own and should not be taken as financial advice. If you require advice, HODL FM strongly recommends contacting a qualified industry professional.
