OpenAI Floats 5% US Government Stake in AI Firms

The proposal would give Washington an ownership interest in leading AI developers at a moment when federal regulators are already restricting model releases and weighing export controls. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggested the 5 percent figure during early discussions with the Trump administration, according to two people familiar with the talks cited by the Financial Times. At OpenAI’s March valuation of $852 billion, that stake would equal roughly $42.6 billion.

The idea extends beyond OpenAI. Altman reportedly proposed that other major US AI companies—Anthropic, Google, Meta, and xAI—would each transfer a comparable 5 percent equity interest into a government vehicle such as a sovereign wealth fund modeled on the Alaska Permanent Fund. The arrangement remains in preliminary stages and would require congressional approval. None of the companies named have confirmed participation.

Regulatory friction provides the immediate backdrop. Last month the Trump administration imposed export controls on Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable models, forcing the company to suspend public access until safety steps were verified. OpenAI itself released a limited preview of GPT-5.6 only to government-approved partners. In June the administration issued an executive order directing companies to submit their most advanced models for voluntary review 30 days before wider release.

Precedent exists for government equity stakes. The administration previously acquired a 10 percent interest in Intel through an $8.9 billion investment; President Trump later stated the government’s holding exceeded $60 billion in value. He has described similar ownership in AI companies as a way to make Americans “partners in this revolution.”

No company or government office has confirmed that formal negotiations are underway. The White House, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta declined to comment on the Financial Times report.