OpenAI is reportedly in discussions with the U.S. government about a proposal that could see Washington receive a 5% equity stake in the artificial intelligence company. According to the Financial Times, CEO Sam Altman personally presented the idea to President Donald Trump as a way to ensure the public shares in the economic benefits created by advanced AI while reducing political resistance to the technology’s rapid development.
At OpenAI’s current reported valuation of approximately $852 billion, a 5% ownership stake would be worth around $42.6 billion, making it one of the largest transfers of equity from a private technology company to the U.S. government if such a proposal were ever implemented.
The discussions reportedly form part of a broader conversation about how governments should benefit from the enormous economic value expected to be created by artificial intelligence. As AI companies raise hundreds of billions of dollars and become increasingly central to the global economy, policymakers have intensified debates over taxation, regulation, public ownership, and how society should participate in the wealth generated by the technology.
According to the report, Altman argued that granting the government an ownership interest could better align public and private incentives. Rather than relying solely on future tax revenues, the government could directly participate in the appreciation of one of the world’s fastest-growing technology companies, potentially creating significant long-term value for taxpayers if OpenAI continues expanding.
The proposal also comes as OpenAI continues investing aggressively in AI infrastructure, data centers, advanced chips, and large-scale computing capacity. The company has secured massive private funding in recent years and has become one of Silicon Valley’s most valuable startups, with investors placing increasingly higher valuations on its leadership in generative AI.
Whether such an arrangement could ultimately move forward remains uncertain. A government equity stake in a private AI company would raise complex legal, governance, and regulatory questions while likely attracting significant political scrutiny. It would also represent an unprecedented relationship between the U.S. government and one of the country’s leading artificial intelligence developers.
The reported discussions highlight how rapidly AI has evolved from a purely commercial technology into an issue of national economic and strategic importance. As governments seek to balance innovation, competitiveness, and public interest, new ownership and governance models may increasingly become part of the broader conversation surrounding the future of artificial intelligence.
