OpenAI proposes 5% stake to Trump administration to ease Washington pressure: report

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: CNBC

OpenAI proposes 5% stake to Trump administration to ease Washington pressure: report

Published Thu, Jul 2 2026 12:41 AM EDT Updated 18 Min Ago

Anniek Bao
@in/anniek-bao-460a48107/
@anniekbyx

Key Points
* OpenAI proposes handing the U.S. government a 5% stake in the company, according to a report in the Financial Times.
* The potential holding would be worth roughly $42.6 billion at the artificial intelligence startup’s recent $852 billion valuation.
* OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly argued the move was the best way to share the upside of AI with the public.


CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a working lunch with G7 leaders, G7 outreach partners, and global tech CEOs on innovation and AI, during the G7 Summit on June 17, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images

OpenAI has proposed handing the U.S. government a 5% stake in the company, the Financial Times reported Thursday, as the artificial intelligence startup seeks to defuse mounting political pressure in Washington. ... A 5% holding would be worth roughly $42.6 billion, after the AI fab closed a record-breaking funding round in March at a post-money valuation of $852 billion.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman argued that giving the public a financial interest in the company is the best way to share the upside of AI, the FT reported, citing two people familiar with the talks. Altman suggested a stake of that size in early conversations with the Trump administration, according to the report. ... It is not clear whether the administration intends to pursue the stake.

The proposed arrangement envisions other U.S. AI companies ceding similar stakes to the government through a sovereign wealth fund vehicle, the FT said. Anthropic, Google and Meta were named in the report as potentially participating in the program, although it is not clear whether any of these groups would agree with OpenAI’s proposal.

The White House, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comments.

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Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/02/openai-proposes-us-government-own-5percent-stake-to-address-political-blowback.html

[William Seger]

1. It's a fucking bribe, period.

[Karasu]

4. 100% this. It's just another bribe to keep their industry unregulated forever.

[AZJonnie]

2. Trump will decide the best use of the windfall will be to build Trump-branded resorts worldwide

Watch, the contract will be written in such a way that by the time the next administration rolls around, the 5% will be worth a negative amount of money, our tax dollars will go to fund them, and Trump will have absconded and distributed the $42B to his cronies and big contributors, with $0 to show for 'the public'.

If this actually happens, it will all be set up to feather Trump's nest now, and leave the public holding the bag when AI goes tits up.

[rampartd]

5. we really have to freeze every asset on day 1

it is all the proceeds of criminal enterprise and subject to civil forfeiture.

i would love to see this guy in his own homeless prison.

[Karasu]

3. There. Is. No. Substitute. For. Regulation.

[OldBaldy1701E]

7. And, anyone who says anything different is working for them!

My 'wet dream' if you will is the day when we have a Congress that will not bow to corporations and will regulate the shit out of them to make sure that they never have influence over anything other than their own office decorations.

Any thing less is just playing into their rich oligarchy-loving hands and assuring our demise in the name of the greed of 1148 people (per the last article I read about the number of people who control the vast majority of wealth in the US), which we seem to be so programmed as to not seeing this take over for what it is.

Business is part of society, not the other way around.

[mwmisses4289]

6. At this time, there is no "upside" to AI.

[Bengus81]

8. Handing a stake to the US Government? BULLSHIT..handed directly to Trump

Meanwhile those fools in Virginia who allowed those energy hog data centers to be built are already getting NAILED with the first of many energy rate increases.

First one...25%.

[FakeNoose]

9. This is Putin's favorite way of doing business - the bribes are right out in the open

[larwdem]

10. how the fuck is thay legal

[Martin68]

11. That's business as usual when dealing with the Trump regime: money talks, bullshit walks.

[KPN]

12. Sounds like Russian Communism prior to Gorbachev!

Oh, and Russian Capitalism just after Gorby and Yeltsin.