Key Takeaways
OpenAI has discussed granting the US government a 5% equity stake worth about $42.6 billion, the Financial Times reported on July 2, citing two people familiar with the talks.
The concept would pool donated equity from leading US AI companies into a public investment vehicle modeled on the Alaska Permanent Fund, paying returns to the public.
The proposal is conceptual, would likely require Congressional approval, and it is unclear whether Anthropic, Google, or Meta would participate.
OpenAI has discussed granting the US government a 5% equity stake, the Financial Times reported on July 2, citing two people familiar with the talks. At the $852 billion valuation set by the company's March funding round, that stake would be worth about $42.6 billion.
CEO Sam Altman raised the idea in early conversations with senior administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, according to CNBC's account of the report. The concept would have leading US AI companies each contribute a similar share of equity to a public investment vehicle modeled on the Alaska Permanent Fund, which invests the state's oil wealth and pays residents a dividend.
The idea traces back to April, when OpenAI argued publicly for a public wealth fund that would give every citizen a financial stake in AI-driven growth, including people who own no stocks at all. Under that framework, companies would donate shares rather than sell them, so the government would put up no cash, CoinDesk reported.
All of this is at a conceptual stage. It would likely require Congressional approval, OpenAI declined to comment, and no other AI company has signed on. The timing is worth sitting with. OpenAI confidentially filed draft IPO paperwork with the SEC in June, and political pressure on the industry keeps building, with some investors openly debating nationalization scenarios.
The pattern here is hard to ignore. In the past three weeks the government ordered the first shutdown of a deployed AI model, and industry leaders stood up a $1 billion nonprofit to retrain workers for the AI economy. The question is no longer whether AI wealth gets shared. It is who decides how.
People Also Ask
Why would OpenAI give the government a stake?
The proposal aims to ease political scrutiny of the AI industry and give the public a direct financial stake in its growth. Because shares would be donated, the government would spend nothing.
How much is 5% of OpenAI worth?
About $42.6 billion, based on the $852 billion valuation from OpenAI's March 2026 funding round.
What is a public wealth fund?
An investment vehicle that holds assets on behalf of the public and distributes returns, like the Alaska Permanent Fund, which pays state residents an annual dividend from invested oil revenue.
Is the OpenAI government stake a done deal?
No. The talks are early and conceptual, the arrangement would likely require Congressional approval, and OpenAI has declined to comment on the report.