OpenAI has held early talks about handing the United States government a 5% ownership stake, the Financial Times reported Thursday, citing two people familiar with the discussions. At the $852 billion valuation set in the company’s March funding round, the stake would be worth roughly $42.6 billion. CEO Sam Altman has framed the idea as one piece of a larger arrangement in which every major American AI developer, including Google, Meta, and Anthropic, would contribute the same share of its equity to a vehicle modeled on the Alaska Permanent Fund. The Alaska Permanent Fund is a state-owned investment fund that pays annual dividends to Alaska residents out of oil revenue. Applied to AI, the structure would give every American a direct financial claim on the industry’s growth.
Key takeaways
- A 5% stake in OpenAI is worth about $42.6 billion at the $852 billion valuation the company set in March.
- Altman has raised the plan with President Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, per the FT.
- The proposal would cover every major US AI lab. None of the others have said they would join.
- The talks are conceptual and early-stage, and a final deal would likely require an act of Congress.
Published: July 2, 2026, 16:05 UTC
Why the talks are happening now
The stake discussions follow a month of escalating federal pressure on American AI labs. Six days before the FT report, OpenAI delayed the full public launch of GPT-5.6 at Washington’s request, with Lutnick reportedly warning Altman against releasing the model without prior approval.
Political momentum for public ownership of AI has been building all summer. Senator Bernie Sanders filed the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act in June, seeking 50% of the voting shares of large US AI companies through a fund his office valued at $7 trillion. President Trump said in June he was exploring ways to give the public a stake in AI firms, and Vice President JD Vance said the president prefers equity to cash payouts.
Altman has spoken with Sanders in recent weeks, according to the FT. His 5% figure is the smallest attached to the debate so far. OpenAI proposed a public wealth fund in an April policy paper, and CNBC has reported that Altman first pitched a government stake to the administration in early 2025.
A playbook Washington has used before
The federal government already owns equity in one major technology company. Last August the administration converted CHIPS Act grants into a 9.9% stake in Intel at $20.47 per share. AMD and Nvidia separately agreed to hand over 15% of their China chip revenue in exchange for export licenses.
Equity and revenue sharing have become standing tools of US tech policy, and the OpenAI talks would extend that approach from semiconductors to AI models. Congress has shown it will act directly on digital finance as well, voting 85-5 in June to bar a Fed digital dollar until 2030.
What it would mean for investors
A federal stake would make the US government one of OpenAI’s largest shareholders overnight. Whether Washington would pay for the equity, and whether existing investors would be diluted, has not been reported. For venture investors, the proposal suggests equity could become the price of regulatory goodwill in frontier AI.
The other named labs face different math. Google and Meta are public companies whose boards answer to shareholders, and Anthropic has its own governance constraints. None of the three has indicated it would participate, the FT said, and Bloomberg noted it is unclear whether any would agree.
The outcome matters beyond AI. Investor capital has rotated between AI and digital assets all year, and AI systems are moving deeper into crypto infrastructure, from trading agents to wallets built for autonomous AI agents. A government seat at OpenAI’s table would shape the policy environment for both industries.
The road through Congress
Any transfer of this size would likely require an act of Congress, the FT reported. The talks remain conceptual, no structure has been agreed, and OpenAI declined to comment. The White House did not immediately respond to the paper’s request for comment.
The next signals to watch: whether the administration formalizes a proposal, whether Sanders’ far larger bill gains traction, and how the other labs respond. Congress already has a crowded digital-asset agenda, including seven crypto tax bills pending in the House.
Frequently asked questions
How much would a 5% stake in OpenAI be worth?
About $42.6 billion, based on the $852 billion valuation OpenAI set in its March 2026 funding round. The figure would move with future raises. The Financial Times reports the talks are conceptual and no final structure has been agreed.
Has the US government taken stakes in tech companies before?
Yes. In August 2025 the administration converted CHIPS Act grants into a 9.9% stake in Intel at $20.47 per share. AMD and Nvidia also agreed to pay 15% of their China chip revenue to the government in exchange for export licenses.
What is the Alaska Permanent Fund model?
The Alaska Permanent Fund invests state oil revenue and pays Alaska residents an annual dividend. Altman’s proposal would apply that structure to AI, with major labs contributing 5% of their equity to a fund paying dividends to Americans.
