Trump gets OpenAI to offer US 5% stake, far lower than Sanders’ target
Ars Technica AI · Ashley Belanger · 2026-07-02
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is in early talks with the Trump administration about the US government acquiring a 5% equity stake in OpenAI, with Google and Meta reportedly approached about similar arrangements.
Appears in
Extraction
Topics: ai-policyopenai-governancegovernment-ai-investmenttech-regulation
Claims
- OpenAI is in early-stage talks with the Trump administration about the US government acquiring a 5% stake in the company.
- Sam Altman argues that giving the public a financial stake in AI is the best way to share the upside of the technology.
- Donald Trump favors the idea of the US government acquiring equity stakes in AI firms.
- Google and Meta were also approached by the Trump administration about offering similar government stakes.
Key quotes
Altman 'has argued that giving the public a financial stake in the company is the best way to share the upside of AI.'