Sam Altman Floats Handing A 5% Equity Stake In OpenAI To US Govt

69% of Americans want to nationalise the AI industry.

A public fund set up to seize the wealth of AI firms...

Sam Altman has proposed giving the US government a 5% equity stake in OpenAI, worth roughly $42.6B at its current $852B valuation.

He's pushing other major AI firms to do the same.

- The idea is modelled on the Alaska Permanent Fund
- 69% of Americans support the idea (Verasight)
- 5% of OpenAI = $42.6B to the public
- 5% of Anthropic = $48B to the public
- 5% of Meta = $82B to the public

Current US President Donald Trump has called US ownership of AI firms "a beautiful thing"

The alternative to the 5% equity stake is a proposal by US Senator Bernie Sanders.

His American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act would seize 50% of the stock from the largest AI companies, creating a fund he estimates at $7 trillion.

Altman's 5% is either a genuine gesture or political insurance ahead of an eventual IPO.

Public funds have worked for other countries.

Should the US public own a piece of the AI industry?