OpenAI has discussed handing the U.S. government a 5% equity stake in the company, according to the Financial Times, which broke the story on Thursday. Reuters, CNBC and Bloomberg all cited the FT report.
According to the FT, the idea surfaced during ongoing talks with the Trump administration, and the company is in early discussions about what one report described as a public ownership deal. The stated goals, according to Fortune India's summary of the reporting, are to ease political resistance to artificial intelligence and to ensure Americans share in the economic gains from the technology.
The numbers are striking. Coverage citing the FT figures values a 5% slice at roughly $42.6 billion, implying a company valuation in the range of $852 billion, according to Crypto Briefing. The FT also reported that the proposed arrangement would involve other U.S. AI companies handing over a similar stake to the government, though it was not clear whether the other firms had agreed.
The backdrop is rising scrutiny of AI firms in Washington. According to CNBC, Trump said in June that the U.S. taking an ownership stake in AI giants would be "a beautiful thing" and would make the American public "partners in this revolution." Several outlets, including Yahoo Finance and Stocktwits, framed the move against OpenAI's reported IPO race with rival Anthropic.
As of the reporting, this remains a proposal in early talks, not a finalized deal, and the sources are secondhand accounts of the FT's scoop rather than confirmed terms from OpenAI or the government.
Why it matters: a direct government equity stake in a leading AI company would be an unusual entanglement of state and a fast-growing private industry, blurring the line between regulator and shareholder just as officials weigh how tightly to govern the technology.