OpenAI Proposed Handing 5% of Its Shares to the U.S. Administration

According to the company’s chief executive, Sam Altman, such a mechanism could be the most appropriate way to share with the state the gains from the rapid development of artificial intelligence. Under his proposal, the stake would be transferred to a special government fund, which would receive dividends and then distribute the money.

OpenAI believes that other companies working in AI could use a similar model. That would apply both to public corporations whose shares are already traded on the stock market and to private companies that, like OpenAI itself, have not yet held an IPO. Whether the initiative has support among other market participants is unknown.

The publication notes that transferring a stake to the state could help OpenAI build a more durable relationship with Donald Trump’s administration, which is increasing pressure on companies linked to artificial intelligence.

In mid-June, the US government required Anthropic to restrict foreign users’ access to its most powerful AI models—Fable 5 and Mythos 5. Because it proved impossible to separate foreign users from US citizens quickly, the company shut off access for everyone. After negotiations with the authorities, the models became available again on July 1.

In late June, OpenAI gave early access to its newest model, GPT-5.6, only to users on a list approved by the government. GPT-5.6 will become available to the general public later. As Reuters reported, Altman said that, in general, he considered additional safety reviews of AI models “a good idea,” but that he “did not like the idea of the government choosing users.”