OpenAI reportedly offers the Trump administration a five percent stake in the company

OpenAI is in talks with the US government about giving it a stake in the company, according to a media report. The proposal would also include other AI companies and could help soften political pushback.

OpenAI has discussed handing a five percent stake to the Trump administration, the Financial Times reports, citing two people familiar with the talks. At a valuation of $852 billion, that stake would be worth more than $40 billion.

CEO Sam Altman argues that giving the public a financial stake is the best way to share the profits from AI development, according to the report. The talks are still at an early, "conceptual" stage. They have reportedly been going on for more than a year. Putting the plan into action could require an act of Congress.

A sovereign wealth fund modeled on Alaska

The proposal calls for all leading US AI developers, not just OpenAI, to contribute five percent of their shares to a shared vehicle, according to the Financial Times. The model is the Alaska Permanent Fund, a state fund that invests the state's oil revenue in stocks and pays dividends to the government and residents.

Altman has reportedly negotiated directly with President Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Recently, the OpenAI chief also spoke with Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, the Financial Times reports. But Sanders wants far more: he's pushing for a public stake of nearly 50 percent in every US AI company through a sovereign wealth fund.

One motive could be blunting political pushback, which has recently focused on cybersecurity. The job market could become the next flashpoint if the AI labs' predictions of mass unemployment driven by AI come true.

Critics are also likely to see the move as a way to insulate the company against bad economic bets. Once the government owns a stake, a bailout becomes more likely if OpenAI's finances go south.

OpenAI floated a similar idea not long ago. In April, the company proposed a "public wealth fund" meant to give every citizen, "regardless of their starting wealth or access to capital," a share in AI-driven economic growth. The current talks with the Trump administration build directly on that proposal but put concrete numbers to it for the first time in the form of an equity stake.

OpenAI declined to comment to the Financial Times. The White House did not initially respond to a request for comment.