OpenAI offered the US government a 5% stake amid pressure from the Trump administration

OpenAI has offered the US government a 5% stake in the company. According to the Financial Times, in a report published on July 4, 2026, CEO Sam Altman put forward the idea during informal talks with the Trump administration. The move aims to reduce political tension around the world's largest AI lab and to answer growing criticism over who benefits from the AI revolution.

How much is the proposed stake worth?

Altman personally proposed the 5% figure. At OpenAI's valuation of $852 billion, set in its latest closed funding round, the stake is worth about $42.6 billion.

• Stake size: 5% of OpenAI
• Estimated value: ~$42.6 billion
• Company valuation in the latest round: $852 billion
• When the idea was first discussed with Trump: early 2025
• Source: two unnamed people familiar with the talks (FT)

According to the FT, Altman raised the subject with Trump as early as the beginning of 2025. The talks have run for more than a year and a half, long before the information reached the press. Neither OpenAI nor the White House has publicly confirmed that the discussions took place.

Why is OpenAI making this move?

The proposal addresses two problems at once.

The first is political. The Trump administration has steadily increased pressure on the biggest technology corporations: antitrust investigations, transparency demands, informal levers of influence. OpenAI is especially vulnerable right now, as it is in the middle of a complicated transition from a nonprofit structure to a for-profit corporation. Any regulatory blow at this stage would be costly. A government stake turns the administration from a potential adversary into an interested shareholder: it would become more profitable for the White House to help OpenAI grow than to restrain it.

The second is reputational. Public criticism of the AI industry is growing: companies make billions from data created by ordinary users, who get nothing in return. According to the FT, Altman considers a government stake the best practical way to "share the results of AI with society." Society would gain an indirect financial interest through the state as an intermediary, without a direct handout of shares.

"Giving people a financial stake in the company is the best way to share the fruits of AI," is

Altman's position, according to the FT.

What this means

If the deal goes ahead, it would set an unprecedented precedent for the US tech market: a private AI lab with a direct government stake but without formal nationalization, something unseen in the industry outside defense programs. The government would gain a financial incentive to support OpenAI's growth rather than hold it back through regulation. An open question is whether state participation would change the company's corporate governance and independence in the long term.

For now, everything rests on the FT's unofficial sources. But the scale of the sums under discussion, about $42 billion, suggests the stakes in this conversation are far higher than the usual lobbying efforts of tech corporations.

Frequently asked questions

How much is 5% of OpenAI worth?

At a company valuation of $852 billion, a five percent stake would be worth about $42.6 billion, potentially one of the largest government stakes in a private technology company in US history.

When did Altman first pitch the idea to Trump?

According to the Financial Times, Altman first raised the idea of a government stake in early 2025, more than a year before the details became public.