OpenAI proposes U.S. government own 5% stake to address political blowback
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a working luncheon with G7 leaders, G7 outreach partners and global technology CEOs on innovation and artificial intelligence during the G7 Summit on June 17, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France.
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OpenAI has offered to hand over a 5% stake in the company to the US government as the artificial intelligence startup tries to deflect growing political pressure in Washington, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
A 5 percent holding would be valued at about $42.6 billion after the AI factory closed a record-breaking financing round in March at a post-money valuation of $852 billion.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman argued that providing the public with financial interest in the company is the best way to share the positive aspects of AI, FT reportedhe said, citing two people familiar with the talks. According to the report, Altman suggested a stake of this size in initial discussions with the Trump administration.
It’s unclear whether management will pursue the stock.
The proposed regulation would see other US AI companies transfer similar stakes to the government through a sovereign wealth fund vehicle, the FT said. The report notes that Anthropic, Google, and Meta will potentially participate in the program, but it is unclear whether any of these groups will accept OpenAI’s offer.
White House, OpenAI, Antropik, Google and Meta He did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
The report comes after more than a year of talks about a possible government stake in the company, with Altman first pitching the concept directly to the Trump administration in early 2025, CNBC reported last month.
In April a leading model makerpublic wealth fund“Holding the assets that will drive growth in AI companies and distributing the economic benefits to the public.
The Trump administration has previously invested by buying shares in private companies. Intel Corporation, IBM’sand other quantum and critical mining companies during the president’s second term.
The government acquired a 10% stake in Intel following its landmark $8.9 billion investment in the chip maker’s shares in August last year. In May, President Donald Trump said he should ask for a larger stake in the company.
Trump described the US taking ownership stakes in artificial intelligence giants as follows: “something nice” this would make Americans “partners of this revolution.”
