It looks like we are one step closer to U.S. government owning an equity stake in OpenAI.
Financial Times is reporting that OpenAI and the Trump Administration have discussed the idea of OpenAI donating a 5% equity stake to the U.S. government.
This idea is tied to the establishment of an AI Sovereign Wealth Fund that could pay annual dividends to the American citizens. Both President Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders have suggested the idea. Sanders even introduced a bill in Congress.
The Trump Administration has already taken a 10% equity stake in Intel, at a time when the company was under financial pressure. That equity stake has appreciated in value by about $35 billion. The Administration has also taken equity interests in several companies involved in rare minerals: MP Materials, Lithium Americas, Vulcan Elements, Trilogy Metals and USA Rare Earth.
Here’s how an AI Sovereign Wealth Fund might work: OpenAI donates a 5% equity stake to U.S. government in 2026. OpenAI delays IPO until 2027 or 2028. If OpenAI’s later IPO is successful, the U.S. government could sell some of the shares for a profit. The profit could be reinvested, used for public works, or shared in the form of dividends with the American people. Of course, a lot depends how much profit is gained at the time of sale.
