OpenAI proposed 5% government stake to Trump administration

TL;DR: OpenAI has proposed giving the US government a 5% stake in the company, according to the Financial Times, as part of a plan discussed with officials in the Trump administration and Senator Bernie Sanders. The report said the talks remain conceptual and any deal could require US Congress approval.

OpenAI proposed to US President Donald Trump a plan for the government to receive a 5% stake in the company, according to a Financial Times report cited by Mobile World Live. The proposal aims to give the public a financial interest in artificial intelligence through state ownership and to share profits generated by AI.

The Financial Times reported that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman discussed the idea with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Senator Bernie Sanders. The report said the plan could also require other US AI developers to allocate 5% of their equity, although it is not clear whether they would support such an arrangement.

The discussions are still at a conceptual stage, and any agreement could require approval from the US Congress, according to the Financial Times. Mobile World Live said the proposal comes amid broader US government involvement in AI policy, including OpenAI delaying the full public launch of GPT-5.6 last week at the request of the US government and the Trump administration ordering Anthropic in June to suspend access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models before restoring access this week.

Related questions

• What stake did OpenAI reportedly propose giving the US government?
• Which US officials did Sam Altman reportedly brief on the proposal?
• What approval could an OpenAI-US government equity deal require?