OpenAI reportedly proposes 5% government stake amid US AI talks Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock
OpenAI (Unlisted:OPAI) has proposed giving the US government a 5% equity stake in the company as part of early discussions with the Trump administration, according to a Financial Times report citing people familiar with the matter.
The reported proposal comes as leading artificial intelligence companies face increased scrutiny from Washington over the technology’s economic and national security implications.
Based on OpenAI’s $852 billion valuation from its March funding round, a 5% stake would be worth approximately $42.6 billion.
According to the Financial Times, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has argued that giving the public a financial interest in AI companies would allow Americans to share in the industry’s economic gains.
The report added that Altman suggested the government could hold similar 5% stakes in other major U.S. AI developers, including Anthropic, Google and Meta, through a sovereign wealth fund or similar investment vehicle.
It remains unclear whether other AI companies would support such an arrangement.
The reported discussions follow comments by President Donald Trump last month that the administration was considering ways for the government to benefit from the growth of the AI sector.
Wedbush analysts wrote that discussions around U.S. involvement in OpenAI have reportedly been underway since last year, pointing to an April white paper that proposed donating shares to a “Public Wealth Fund” that could also hold stakes in other major US AI companies.
While the analysts wrote they have no insight into whether the proposal will advance, they view an outcome broadly consistent with the reported plan as positive for the AI sector and related hardware companies, citing the potential for greater government support for AI supply chains, infrastructure development and a reduced likelihood of delays to new model releases.