OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman is considering offering 5% of his company to the U.S. government in a deal negotiated with President Donald Trump, but only if other major AI competitors agree to do the same, according to a Financial Times report.
The proposal would require companies like Meta, Google, and Anthropic to contribute equivalent stakes to public ownership as a condition for Altman's participation. Altman reportedly discussed the plan with Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about making OpenAI public to some degree.
Altman also met separately with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has proposed broad public ownership of AI companies, suggesting U.S. taxpayers should own up to half of such firms. Altman reportedly believes that giving the public partial ownership is the best way to spread benefits of the rapidly growing AI sector to Americans.
What the Left Is Saying
Sen. Bernie Sanders has advocated for substantial public ownership of AI companies, arguing taxpayers who fund foundational research should share in the industry's profits. 'The American people have funded the research and development that made this technology possible,' Sanders wrote in recent proposals. 'They deserve an ownership stake.'
Progressive advocates supporting Altman's approach point to the Intel precedent from August 2025, when the U.S. purchased a 10% stake in the microchip manufacturer. They argue government equity stakes ensure emerging technologies serve public interests rather than concentrating wealth among tech executives and investors.
Labor organizations have cautiously endorsed the concept of public ownership stakes as a check on AI's potential impacts on employment. The AFL-CIO has stated that 'workers deserve to benefit from technology they helped create through their labor and tax dollars.'
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative critics view government equity stakes in private companies as an unprecedented expansion of federal intervention in markets. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has argued such arrangements amount to 'corporate socialism' that picks winners and losers.
Others note Trump's own investments in U.S. Steel and quantum computing companies represent a different approach focused on national security rather than broad public ownership models. 'The government should hold stakes where it's necessary for security, not as a general economic policy,' said one Republican Senate aide who spoke on background.
Tech industry groups have raised concerns that requiring competitors to match OpenAI's stake would effectively establish a regulatory framework that disadvantages smaller AI companies unable to negotiate equivalent terms with the federal government.
What the Numbers Show
The U.S. purchased a 10% equity stake in Intel for approximately $11 billion in August 2025, marking one of the largest government investments in a semiconductor company on record.
Government stakes also include 15% equity in MP Minerals, a rare earth processing company, as well as positions in several quantum computing firms through the Commerce Department's technology investment fund.
AI industry valuation estimates suggest OpenAI is currently worth approximately $300 billion following its most recent funding round. A 5% stake would be valued at roughly $15 billion based on those figures.
Anthropic was recently removed from a Pentagon supply chain risk blacklist, allowing the company to resume federal contracting work and improving its relationship with the Trump administration after previously being excluded from government procurement lists.
The Bottom Line
Altman's proposal represents an emerging framework in which major AI companies may seek favorable regulatory treatment by offering government equity stakes, potentially reshaping how Washington interacts with the technology sector. The conditional structure requiring competitor participation could either establish a new industry standard or collapse if rivals decline to participate.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic are reportedly moving toward initial public offerings, adding urgency to discussions about their relationships with federal regulators in the formative period of AI policy development. How competitors respond will determine whether Altman's gambit becomes an industry-wide precedent or remains an isolated negotiation.
Fox News Digital contacted OpenAI and the White House for comment on this report.