The US government is discussing a potential 5% stake in OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT, according to the Financial Times, citing two anonymous sources.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly favours extending such arrangements to all leading AI developers in the United States.
These include Anthropic (Claude), Alphabet/Google (Gemini), and Meta, but it remains unclear if other companies would agree to such a proposal.
Altman has advocated for government stakes in major AI firms since early 2025, suggesting the public should share in the benefits of the burgeoning AI industry.
Former President Donald Trump had previously expressed interest, proposing that dividends from such investments could be redistributed to the population through a government fund.
The discussions coincide with heightened scrutiny of AI companies during Trump’s administration. Last month, Anthropic had to pause the rollout of its advanced language models due to restrictions on foreign use imposed by the government. Those limitations were recently lifted for Claude Fable 5.
During Trump’s second term, the US government invested in around ten companies, including several in the critical minerals industry. Additionally, it acquired nearly a 10% stake in chipmaker Intel.
