OpenAI proposes handing 5% of its equity to a US sovereign wealth fund
Sam Altman has floated giving 5% of OpenAI's equity to a US sovereign wealth fund, per the Financial Times, framed as a way to ease political blowback — and he wants other AI labs to donate matching stakes. The talks are preliminary and would likely need congressional approval, but they mark a concrete step toward the state taking direct ownership in frontier labs, an idea Trump has endorsed and Sen. Bernie Sanders has pushed further with a bill to seize 50% of AI-company stock into a public fund.
Source: techcrunch.com ↗
Returns from the Fund could be distributed directly to citizens, allowing more people to participate directly in the upside of AI-driven growth, regardless of their starting wealth or access to capital.
OpenAI policy paper, 'Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age'
Why this matters
- → Direct state ownership in AI labs could reshape corporate governance and wealth distribution.
- → 5% equity stake sets precedent for public financial participation in frontier AI.
- → Congressional approval needed; Bernie Sanders pushes more aggressive 50% seizure alternative.
State stakes in AI