Dave Jimenez
OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT, has floated giving the federal government a 5% equity stake as part of a plan that would push several major AI developers to cede similar ownership slices into a sovereign wealth style fund, according to reporting from the Financial Times, CNBC and Reuters. The proposal lands at a moment when Washington is already leaning harder on AI firms over model releases and national security.
Sam Altman, OpenAI's chief executive, has discussed the arrangement directly with President Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Reuters reported. He has also been in touch with Senator Bernie Sanders, who has his own competing idea for public ownership of AI companies. Based on OpenAI's $852 billion post money valuation from its March funding round, a 5% stake would be worth roughly $42.6 billion, a figure that gives the proposal real financial weight rather than symbolic gesture status.
The Alaska Permanent Fund Model and Who Might Join
Structured along the lines of the Alaska Permanent Fund, the vehicle Altman has described would pool equity contributions from multiple companies rather than just OpenAI. Anthropic, Google and Meta are named as potential participants, each theoretically handing over a 5% slice. None of those companies has confirmed willingness to join, and CNN has reported that any such arrangement would likely require congressional legislation before it could move forward. Neither OpenAI nor the White House has responded to requests for comment on the specifics.
Altman's rationale, as described to CNBC, centers on distributing AI's financial upside more broadly, particularly to Americans without exposure to stock markets. That thinking traces back to an April proposal from OpenAI for a dedicated fund that would hold AI equity stakes and return proceeds to the public. Sanders has pushed a far more aggressive version: a plan to move 50% of equity in leading AI firms into a public fund with government board seats, voting power and a universal dividend for citizens.
Regulatory Pressure Already Shaping the Sector
The equity proposal surfaces against a backdrop of tightening federal involvement in AI. OpenAI delayed the full public rollout of its GPT-5.6 model last week at the government's request. Anthropic, separately, had suspended foreign national access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models over national security concerns before the government lifted those restrictions this past Tuesday.
Government equity in private tech companies is not without precedent. Last August, an $8.9 billion investment in Intel's common stock handed Washington a 10% ownership stake in the chipmaker. Trump later said in May that the government should have pushed for an even larger position. Both OpenAI and Anthropic have filed confidential paperwork for initial public offerings, a step that would eventually let retail investors buy shares directly on public markets.
What a Congressional Vote Would Mean for OpenAI's Structure
Because the framework likely needs an act of Congress, its path forward is uncertain and could stretch well beyond the current news cycle. Lawmakers would need to weigh competing visions, Altman's narrower 5% model against Sanders' 50% public ownership plan, while also considering whether forcing equity transfers from private firms like Anthropic, Google and Meta is even legally workable. Until Congress acts or the companies themselves signal agreement, the proposal remains a negotiating position rather than a settled policy.
Carlos Dixon
