OpenAI in Early Talks to Give US Government 5% Stake
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- OpenAI is in early-stage talks to give the US government a 5% equity stake, with CEO Sam Altman arguing that letting the public share financially is the best way to distribute AI's benefits, according to the FT citing two unnamed sources.
- Altman and other OpenAI executives have proposed that each of the biggest US AI developers give 5% equity to an investment vehicle like the Alaska Permanent Fund, which invests US oil wealth in stocks and pays dividends to state residents.
- The proposal would extend to other US AI companies, though it remains unclear whether Anthropic, Google, or Meta would agree, and any deal could require an act of Congress to implement — the FT reports talks are "conceptual."
- Anthropic suspended its newest model last month after the government ordered it to curtail access for foreign nationals on national security grounds, and said this week it had restored customer access after resolving safety concerns.
- Both OpenAI and Anthropic are preparing to list on the US stock market, with some investors believing each could be valued at more than $1tn (£751bn).
- Altman has held public-ownership discussions with Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Senator Bernie Sanders — with Sanders pushing for a sovereign wealth fund financed by a one-time 50% tax on the biggest AI companies' stock.
Why it matters: A 5% government stake in OpenAI — and potentially Anthropic, Google, and Meta — would redirect a slice of AI's trillion-dollar valuations to taxpayers while buying the industry political goodwill with the Trump administration. With both OpenAI and Anthropic heading toward IPOs at valuations north of $1tn, the equity carve-out would be worth tens of billions; Sanders' competing 50% one-time tax makes the policy fight a question of whether AI wealth is shared or seized.
