OpenAI Proposes Giving U.S. Government 5% Stake Amid Political Pressure

Jul 2, 2026

OpenAI has proposed giving the U.S. government a 5% equity stake, worth an estimated $42.6 billion, to ease mounting political and regulatory pressure in Washington. CEO Sam Altman has discussed the conceptual plan—which models the Alaska Permanent Fund and suggests other AI giants cede similar stakes—with President Donald Trump, Scott Bessent, and Howard Lutnick. While Trump has expressed interest in public-private partnerships, Senator Bernie Sanders is pushing a far more aggressive 50% tax on AI stock to fund a sovereign wealth fund.

OpenAI government stake proposal

▪OpenAI has proposed giving the United States government a 5% ownership stake in the company to ease political pressure and regulatory scrutiny
▪OpenAI CEO Sam Altman proposed that other leading United States artificial intelligence developers, such as Anthropic, Google, and Meta, also cede similar 5% stakes to the government
▪A 5% stake in OpenAI would be valued at approximately $42.6 billion, based on a March 2026 funding round that valued the company at $852 billion

Bipartisan support for AI profit-sharing

▪Senator Bernie Sanders proposed creating a bipartisan Independent Commission for Democratic AI, with members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, to use voting shares to block harmful decisions
▪Senator Bernie Sanders proposed a legislative plan requiring leading artificial intelligence firms to pay a one-time 50% tax on their stock to fund a sovereign public wealth fund
▪OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has engaged in conceptual talks regarding the equity proposal with President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick

Trump administration AI regulation

▪The United States government took a 10% stake in chipmaker Intel in August 2025 following an $8.9 billion investment in the company's common stock
▪The Trump administration lifted export controls on Anthropic's advanced Mythos and Fable artificial intelligence models after negotiations resolved safety concerns
▪The White House requested that OpenAI limit the release of its GPT-5.6 model to a small number of government-approved partners due to its advanced capabilities

Alaska Permanent Fund model

▪The Alaska Permanent Fund is a sovereign wealth fund established in 1976 to invest Alaska's surplus oil revenues, valued at nearly $91.2 billion as of May 31, 2026
▪OpenAI executives suggested that leading artificial intelligence companies allot 5% of their equity to a vehicle modeled after the Alaska Permanent Fund

OpenAI superintelligence policy framework

▪OpenAI's April 2026 industrial policy document proposed four-day work weeks, raising corporate tax rates, and taxing businesses that replace human workers with artificial intelligence
▪In April 2026, OpenAI published a policy document proposing a Public Wealth Fund to provide citizens with a stake in artificial intelligence-driven economic growth