OpenAI Proposes 5% Government Share of AI Revenue Amid Trump Administration Tensions

OpenAI has proposed allocating a 5 percent government ownership stake to mitigate tensions with the Trump administration and address growing public criticism of AI, according to the Financial Times.

CEO Sam Altman contended that granting the public a financial stake would be the most effective means of sharing AI’s benefits, the FT reported, referencing two anonymous sources familiar with the discussions. He reportedly first presented the concept to Trump early last year.

Altman reportedly settled on a 5 percent allocation. At OpenAI’s most recent valuation of $852 billion, such a stake would amount to approximately $42.6 billion.

These talks are said to be in early stages, and the arrangement would likely require other U.S. AI firms to offer comparable stakes to the government. It remains uncertain whether they would accept.

Public officials are increasingly exploring policies to capture and redistribute AI‑generated wealth. During the Trump era, the U.S. government secured a 10 percent stake in Intel and reportedly sought a 15 percent share of revenue from AI chip sales to China from Nvidia and AMD. Figures such as Senator Bernie Sanders have advocated treating AI as a public resource, proposing a one‑time 50 percent tax on corporate stock valuations to fund a sovereign wealth fund.

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