OpenAI proposes to give 5% stake to Trump administration, says Financial Times

OpenAI has discussed the possibility of giving the US government a 5% stake, the Financial Times reported on Thursday (2), at a time when AI companies face increasing scrutiny in Washington over the potential misuse of advanced models and whether Americans will share in the industry's profits.

Under the proposal, OpenAI suggested that other American AI companies also cede similar stakes to the government, adding that it is unclear whether the other companies will agree.

Reuters was unable to immediately verify the information.

OpenAI and the White House did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside normal business hours.

Last month, President Donald Trump said he was exploring options to give the public a stake in leading AI companies, in response to concerns that individual Americans would not share in the industry's expected profits.

Previously, OpenAI proposed creating a "public wealth fund" to invest in AI companies and distribute profits to citizens, while Anthropic said it was exploring a "digital dividend," defined as payments to Americans financed by taxes on the AI sector.

The Financial Times said, citing two people familiar with the negotiations, that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and company executives suggested that major U.S. AI companies commit 5% of their capital to a vehicle similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund, a state-owned corporation financed by oil revenues that pays annual dividends to residents and helps support Alaska's budget.

According to the Financial Times, Altman discussed the stake sale with Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

He has also spoken with Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders in recent weeks.

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The report comes after OpenAI delayed the full public release of GPT-5.6 last week at the request of the US government.

This announcement came after the US government ordered competitor Anthropic to suspend foreign citizens' access to its cutting-edge AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, due to risks to national security.

The US removed restrictions on Anthropic's AI models on Tuesday (30).

Both OpenAI and Anthropic have confidentially filed IPO (initial public offering) applications in the United States.

Source: CNN