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Sam Altman floats giving US government a 5% stake in AI firms

techJul 2, 202621320

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has discussed giving the U.S. government a roughly 5% equity stake in OpenAI as a way to share AI’s economic upside and reduce mounting political pressure, the Financial Times and CNBC report. At OpenAI’s post-money valuation of $852 billion after a March funding round, a 5% holding would be worth about $42.6 billion. Altman first pitched the concept to the Trump administration in early 2025 and has proposed the government hold 5% of each leading U.S. AI developer via a sovereign wealth fund vehicle. The plan envisions other firms such as Anthropic, Google, and Meta ceding similar stakes, though it is not clear whether those companies would agree. Washington and the companies named did not immediately comment, and talks remain early. The proposal follows OpenAI’s April idea for a public wealth fund to distribute AI gains and comes amid regulatory moves that briefly limited access to some advanced models while safety concerns were addressed.

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“OpenAI has discussed giving a 5 per cent stake to the US government as the $852bn AI start-up seeks to clear political obstacles by securing financial buy-in from the Trump administration.”

735h ago
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