OpenAI founder Sam Altman has reportedly proposed giving the U.S. government a 5% stake in the company as part of a broader arrangement under which Washington would take similar stakes in leading U.S. artificial intelligence developers.
Altman and other OpenAI executives have suggested that the U.S. government take a 5% stake in the country’s leading artificial intelligence developer through a government-backed investment vehicle. The proposal may also be extended to Anthropic, Google, and Meta Platforms, but it’s unclear whether those companies will support the idea. financial times.
The report mentioned that Altman believes that allowing the government to invest in OpenAI will be the most effective way to ensure that the public shares the economic benefits brought by the prosperity of artificial intelligence.
Altman has discussed the stake sale with President Donald Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant. He has also spoken with Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders in recent weeks. Reuters reported.
OpenAI had earlier sought to create a “public wealth fund” to invest in AI companies and distribute the proceeds to citizens, while Anthropic said it was exploring a “digital dividend,” payments to Americans through taxes on the AI industry.
The proposal comes as the Trump administration increases scrutiny of artificial intelligence companies. The US president reportedly said he is exploring plans to let the public take stakes in leading artificial intelligence companies, responding to concerns that American individuals will not share in the industry’s expected profits. Reuters.
Trump vs Humanity
Last month, on June 12, the Trump administration ordered Anthropic to restrict foreign access to its artificial intelligence models due to national security concerns. Because the company couldn’t reliably separate foreigners from other users in real time, it turned off access to the model to everyone, including Americans.
However, The government later lifted these restrictions Anthropic’s Fable 5 and Myth 5 models were approved after Anthropic resolved government security concerns, allowing wider distribution of the models.
According to Anthropic, the U.S. government’s export control order comes after Amazon researchers found a way to bypass Fable 5’s security measures, allowing powerful artificial intelligence models to identify software vulnerabilities or access other illicit information. Reuters.
Also read: Why the U.S. Restricted, Then Restored Anthropic’s Most Powerful AI Model
In an earlier clash with the White House, Anthropic angered President Donald Trump’s team by refusing to allow its technology to be used for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons, leading the Pentagon to cancel a contract with the company, AFP reported.
OpenAI said last week that it was delaying the full public release of GPT-5.6 at the request of the U.S. government, limiting access to a small group of vetted partners.
(Based on input from each agency)
