OpenAI in talks to offer Trump administration 5% stake, FT reports

OpenAI is in active discussions to hand a 5% stake to the Donald Trump administration, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

According to the FT, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has held talks on the matter with President Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Two sources said Altman proposed the 5% figure in early discussions, arguing that offering a financial stake is the best way to share AI-generated wealth with the public.

CNBC reported in early June that the discussions had been ongoing for more than a year since Altman first floated the idea to the Trump administration last year.

OpenAI was valued at $852 billion in March, putting a 5% stake at roughly $42.6 billion (about 66 trillion won). The company has been pursuing an IPO as early as this year, though the FT said the listing could slip to next year.

The proposal centers on OpenAI transferring shares to the government to establish a "Public Wealth Fund," which would invest in long-term diversified assets and distribute returns directly to citizens. The model resembles Alaska's Permanent Fund, which pays annual dividends to state residents from oil company revenues.

The proposal also envisions other AI companies — including Anthropic, Google and Meta — contributing similar stakes, though it remains unclear whether they have agreed.

The FT noted that offering a government stake could help OpenAI maintain good relations with the administration and may be read as an attempt to ease political backlash by sharing AI-generated wealth with the public.

Concerns have grown among Americans and lawmakers over the construction of large-scale AI data centers and the impact of AI on jobs and cybersecurity.

The Trump administration already holds equity stakes in semiconductor, quantum computing and critical minerals companies, including a 10% stake in Intel acquired for $8.9 billion.

The idea entered public debate in early June, when Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced legislation that would require companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI to pay corporate taxes in shares rather than cash, allowing the government to acquire equity. Altman visited Sanders in person on June 3 to discuss the concept of public ownership.

President Trump weighed in on June 5, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that acquiring stakes in major AI companies "would be a beautiful thing," describing it as "the people becoming partners in this revolution."

The discussions remain at an early stage, and sources said any agreement could require congressional legislation. Whether the administration will pursue the equity acquisition remains unclear.

In a separate op-ed published in the FT that day, Altman called for a US-led global framework to ensure AI safety.

Altman described the initiative as "a US-led international forum that would establish agreed-upon standards, provide expert and impartial analysis of capabilities and risks, and make technology available to participating countries and companies that follow the rules." He added that it could include government representatives and independent technology experts.

He said such a forum would provide a "governance mechanism" for AI research and development companies and protect against dangerous commercial competition, citing global aviation safety standards, international financial standards and the International Atomic Energy Agency as models worth emulating.

"Democratic institutions should not delegate accountability to AI labs. Labs build the technology, but the rules should be made by citizens and their elected representatives," Altman wrote, adding that "the most important decisions about how AI is used should be made through democratic processes, not by a handful of companies in San Francisco."