OpenAI has proposed handing the US government a 5% equity stake worth roughly $42.6 billion, the Financial Times reported Thursday, as the ChatGPT maker seeks to defuse mounting political pressure in Washington.
CEO Sam Altman argued the move is the best way to share AI’s economic upside with the public. The proposal, discussed directly with President Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, envisions a broader arrangement: Washington would hold 5% of each leading US AI developer through a government vehicle modelled on the Alaska Permanent Fund.
Anthropic, Google, and Meta would also be expected to cede similar stakes. None have publicly agreed.
The pitch arrives as AI firms face intensifying scrutiny. The White House issued an executive order in June promoting AI innovation alongside security requirements. Anthropic was forced to disable its most advanced Mythos and Fable models last month to comply with export controls — access was restored only Tuesday after the company addressed safety concerns. Washington is also watching Chinese open-source models that rival American capabilities at a fraction of the cost.
Altman first floated a government stake in early 2025. In April, OpenAI proposed a “public wealth fund” to capture AI-driven growth and distribute benefits to the public.
Analysis
Altman is making a cold calculation: a 5% dilution is cheaper than the legislation Congress might write if AI firms appear to be hoarding trillion-dollar gains. The real question is whether this is a genuine wealth-sharing mechanism or a regulatory insurance premium. If every major lab follows suit, the US government becomes the industry’s largest minority shareholder — which could make it harder to break up or heavily regulate these companies. Critics will ask why the American public should accept a 5% cut of a boom built partly on publicly funded research. The Alaska model is clever framing, but distributing $42.6 billion in paper equity to 340 million people does not pay anyone’s rent.
