OpenAI explores giving US government a 5% stake: Report

OpenAI is in talks with Washington about granting the US government a 5% equity stake in the ChatGPT maker, as part of a broader proposal to give the public sector a direct share in the AI boom, the Financial Times reported, citing two people familiar with the discussions.According to the FT, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and other senior executives have suggested that the government hold a 5% stake in each of the leading US artificial intelligence developers through a dedicated government vehicle. The idea could potentially extend to firms such as Anthropic, as well as publicly listed tech majors Google and Meta Platforms Inc., though the FT noted it remains unclear whether those companies would agree to such an arrangement.Altman has argued that allowing the public to own a portion of OpenAI would be the most effective way to broadly share in the upside created by rapid advances in artificial intelligence, the newspaper said.The proposal comes amid increasing scrutiny of major US AI firms under the Trump administration. Last month, Anthropic temporarily suspended access to its most advanced models after the government ordered restrictions on use by foreign nationals, citing national security risks. Earlier this week, Washington lifted those restrictions on Anthropic’s Fable 5 model after the company addressed the administration’s safety concerns, clearing the way for wider distribution, according to the FT.