OpenAI Offers US Government a $42 Billion Slice of Itself: Report
Key Takeaways
- Decrypt reports that OpenAI has discussed giving the U.S. government a 5% equity stake in the company, worth roughly $42.6 billion based on OpenAI’s $852 billion valuation from its March funding round.
- Sam Altman reportedly raised the idea with President Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and wants Anthropic, Google, and Meta to offer similar 5% stakes through the same vehicle, according to Decrypt.
- Decrypt notes the talks remain conceptual and early-stage, and any deal could require Congressional approval; the arrangement would echo the government’s 9.9% stake in Intel and separate revenue-sharing deals with AMD and Nvidia.
What Altman Is Proposing, and Why Now
According to Decrypt, OpenAI has been in discussions with the Trump administration about transferring a 5% equity stake in the company to the U.S. government. At OpenAI’s $852 billion valuation from its March funding round, that stake would be worth approximately $42.6 billion. Decrypt attributes the reporting to the Financial Times, which cited two people familiar with the discussions.
Altman’s framing, as described by Decrypt, positions the move as a way to spread AI’s financial upside more broadly across the American public rather than concentrating it among private shareholders. He reportedly discussed the concept directly with President Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The proposed structure would resemble a sovereign wealth fund, drawing comparison to the Alaska Permanent Fund, a mechanism established in 1976 that invests state oil revenue and distributes annual dividends to Alaska residents.
Crucially, Decrypt reports that Altman’s ambitions extend beyond OpenAI alone. He is said to want Anthropic, Google, and Meta to contribute similar 5% stakes into the same vehicle. So far, none of those companies have indicated any willingness to participate, per Decrypt’s account of the FT reporting.
Why This Matters for the AI Economy and Markets
If this arrangement moves forward, it would represent the first instance of the U.S. government holding equity in a private AI company, according to Decrypt. That would be a notable shift in how Washington manages its relationship with the AI sector, moving from regulation and oversight toward direct financial stakes.
Decrypt frames this as part of a broader pattern: equity has become a preferred tool for the administration in dealing with major tech firms. The government already holds a 9.9% stake in Intel, acquired last August for $8.9 billion by converting CHIPS Act grants into shares priced at $20.47 each — a position Decrypt says is now worth well over $50 billion. Separately, AMD and Nvidia agreed to hand over 15% of their China chip revenues in exchange for export licenses. Decrypt also notes that Trump said in May he should have negotiated an even larger stake in Intel, suggesting an appetite for expanding this approach.
For OpenAI specifically, the timing is notable. The company is navigating a confidential IPO filing while also facing a probe from a coalition of 42 state attorneys general, according to Decrypt. Offering the government a stake now — before any public listing dilutes ownership — could be seen as a way to lock in favorable terms with Washington ahead of a future IPO. Anthropic has also filed confidentially for an IPO, per Decrypt’s reporting, meaning similar timing considerations could apply if it were to join such an arrangement.
There’s also a political dimension. Decrypt reports that Senator Bernie Sanders, who met with Altman recently, is pushing a bill that would require the largest AI companies to surrender 50% of their equity to a public fund, with proceeds distributed to Americans as direct payments. Altman’s more modest 5% proposal could be read as an attempt to shape the terms of the debate before more aggressive legislative proposals gain traction.
For readers tracking crypto and broader tech markets, this story is a reminder that governments are increasingly willing to take direct financial positions in strategic industries rather than relying solely on regulation or taxation. Precedents like the Intel stake and the AMD-Nvidia revenue-sharing deals show a pattern of blending industrial policy with equity participation. If similar structures were ever extended toward blockchain infrastructure, AI-crypto hybrid ventures, or other frontier tech sectors, it could reshape how investors think about government risk and involvement in emerging markets. For now, though, Decrypt’s reporting is specific to traditional AI developers and does not mention any crypto-specific implications.
Separately, Decrypt notes that OpenAI launched GPT-5.6 in limited form just days earlier, after the White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director requested a restricted rollout while officials build a testing framework for frontier AI systems. This followed Anthropic spending most of June under emergency export controls on its Mythos 5 and Fable 5 systems, after the Defense Department had labeled the company a “supply chain risk,” with access restored this week, according to Decrypt. These episodes underscore how deeply government oversight is already embedded in frontier AI development, even before any equity arrangement is finalized.
Hype Check
Claim: Decrypt reports that OpenAI is offering the U.S. government a $42 billion, 5% stake in the company, with Sam Altman pushing for every major AI developer to do the same. Reality: Decrypt’s sourcing, drawn from the Financial Times, describes the talks as conceptual and early-stage, with no confirmed agreement, and notes any deal could require Congressional approval. No other AI company has agre
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Researched with AI assistance, fact-checked and edited by a human. Not financial advice.