Sam Altman has reportedly proposed that the US government take a 5% stake in OpenAI, but only if rivals Anthropic and Meta agree to the same arrangement. The OpenAI CEO discussed the idea in meetings with President Donald Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders, according to Fox News Politics.
The proposal would give the federal government direct equity in a leading artificial intelligence firm, raising questions about how such ownership would be structured and whether it would influence AI safety regulation or research priorities. No legislation or executive action has yet emerged from the talks.
The condition tying the offer to competitors' participation injects a competitive dynamic into what would otherwise be a straightforward negotiation. It remains unclear whether Anthropic or Meta have been approached or would accept such terms, leaving the proposal's viability uncertain.
Public reaction is likely to be split along party lines, with some viewing government ownership in a tech firm as a conflict of interest and others seeing it as a way to ensure public benefit from AI advances. No polling data on the specific proposal was cited in the report.
Analysts caution that even if all parties agreed, the legal and regulatory hurdles for a direct federal equity stake in a private company like OpenAI would be significant. The precedent for such ownership is limited, making the proposal both novel and politically fragile.