OpenAI is reportedly exploring a new way to answer one of the biggest political questions around artificial intelligence: who should benefit financially if AI companies create enormous wealth?
According to the Financial Times, OpenAI has discussed giving the Trump administration a five percent stake in the company. The talks are described as early and "conceptual," but the proposal puts a concrete number on an idea OpenAI has already floated publicly: a public stake in AI-driven economic growth.
A five percent OpenAI stake would be worth more than $40 billion
The Financial Times reports that OpenAI has discussed handing a five percent stake to the Trump administration, citing two people familiar with the talks. At a valuation of $852 billion, that stake would be worth more than $40 billion.
The reported argument from CEO Sam Altman is straightforward: if AI development produces large profits, the public should have a financial claim on some of that upside. The proposal is not limited to OpenAI. It would also involve other AI companies.
The discussions have reportedly been going on for more than a year. Turning the idea into reality could require an act of Congress, according to the source article.
That matters because the plan is not simply a corporate donation or a short-term political gesture. It would create a formal ownership structure in which the public, through a shared vehicle, could benefit from the growth of major US AI developers.
The model is a sovereign wealth fund
The reported structure would ask all leading US AI developers to contribute five percent of their shares to a shared vehicle. The Financial Times says the model is the Alaska Permanent Fund.
That comparison is important. The Alaska Permanent Fund invests the state's oil revenue in stocks and pays dividends to the government and residents. In OpenAI's reported AI proposal, the comparable asset would not be oil revenue. It would be equity from leading AI developers.
The logic is easy to follow. If AI becomes a major source of economic growth, a public wealth fund could give people a stake in that growth even if they do not own shares directly or have access to capital markets.
OpenAI proposed a related idea in April. That proposal described a "public wealth fund" meant to give every citizen, "regardless of their starting wealth or access to capital," a share in AI-driven economic growth. The current talks reportedly build on that idea by attaching a specific equity figure to it for the first time.
The politics are already complicated
The Financial Times reports that Altman has negotiated directly with President Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The report also says Altman recently spoke with Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders.
Sanders is pushing for a much larger public stake. According to the source article, he wants nearly 50 percent of every US AI company placed into a sovereign wealth fund.
That difference shows how quickly the debate can widen. A five percent stake frames the proposal as a limited public participation model. A nearly 50 percent stake would represent a far larger claim on the value of US AI companies.
The reported talks also arrive as political pushback against AI grows. The source article says recent concern has focused on cybersecurity. It also notes that the job market could become the next flashpoint if AI labs' predictions of mass unemployment driven by AI come true.
In that context, a public stake could serve more than one purpose. It could be presented as a mechanism for sharing AI profits. It could also help reduce political resistance by giving the public a visible financial interest in the success of AI companies.
Critics may see a bailout risk
The proposal is likely to face skepticism. The source article notes that critics may view the move as a way to protect OpenAI from the consequences of bad economic bets.
The concern is simple: once the government owns a stake, a bailout becomes more likely if OpenAI's finances go south. That criticism does not reject the idea that AI wealth should be shared. It questions whether government ownership could blur the line between public benefit and corporate protection.
OpenAI declined to comment to the Financial Times. The White House did not initially respond to a request for comment.
For now, the proposal remains early and conceptual. But even at that stage, it shows how the AI policy debate is shifting. The question is no longer only how AI companies should be regulated, or how their systems should be deployed. It is also whether the public should own a piece of the companies building the technology.
If the reported talks move forward, the core issue will be how to design a public stake that is credible, politically durable, and clearly tied to the public interest. The numbers now on the table are large enough to make that debate unavoidable.