OpenAI has proposed handing the US government a 5% equity stake, worth roughly $42.6 billion, to seed a national fund that would share artificial intelligence profits with Americans.
Key Points:
- OpenAI discussed transferring 5% of its equity to a government-linked public wealth fund.
- The stake would be worth about $42.6 billion at the company's $852 billion valuation.
- Sam Altman wants other leading US AI firms to contribute similar stakes.
OpenAI Equity Proposal
The plan, first reported on Thursday, grew out of more than a year of talks between the company and the White House. Sam Altman raised the concept directly with Donald Trump in early 2025, and OpenAI sketched out a public wealth fund in a policy paper published in April. No final agreement has been reached, and the terms could still change.
The chief executive has discussed the stake with the president, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He has also approached Senator Bernie Sanders in recent weeks to make the case.
Altman and other executives have suggested that leading American AI developers each allot 5% of their equity to a vehicle modeled on the Alaska Permanent Fund, the state corporation that pays Alaskans annual dividends from oil revenues. A 5% holding would be worth about $42.6 billion, based on the $852 billion valuation OpenAI secured in a record funding round in March. Whether any rival would agree to follow remains unclear.
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AI Wealth Fund Debate
Trump said last month that he was exploring ways to give the public a stake in leading AI companies, calling such ownership "a beautiful thing," and he reportedly plans to meet industry executives to discuss it further. His administration has already taken equity positions in Intel, IBM and several quantum and critical minerals firms during the president's second term.
Not everyone is convinced. Sanders is pushing a far harsher bill that would impose a one-time 50% stock tax on OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI. He has dismissed the 5% idea as modest profit-sharing rather than genuine public ownership.
Policy researchers have also warned that the arrangement would turn Washington into both a shareholder and a regulator of the same company, a combination they say invites conflicts of interest. Others argue that a federal shareholding risks letting the government pick winners and losers in a fiercely competitive market.
The proposal lands after weeks of mounting federal pressure on American AI developers. OpenAI delayed the full public rollout of its GPT-5.6 model last week at the government's request, while officials briefly forced Anthropic to cut off foreign access to its most powerful models before lifting the order on Tuesday. Altman has reportedly said that extra safety reviews are a reasonable idea, though he objects to the government deciding who can use new models.
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