The plan aims to give the American public a direct financial interest in the rise of artificial intelligence while helping to ease growing political pressure on the industry.

OpenAI has reportedly weighed offering the U.S. government a 5% equity stake as part of efforts to deepen ties with the Trump administration and broaden public access to AI-driven value, according to a Financial Times report published Thursday.

The proposal remains at a preliminary stage and was said to have been floated by CEO Sam Altman during early discussions with U.S. officials, people familiar with the matter told the FT.

Under the concept, leading U.S. AI firms could allocate comparable equity stakes into a collective public investment vehicle, modeled after Alaska’s Permanent Fund, which distributes returns from state investments to residents.

The initiative is designed to respond to rising regulatory scrutiny by giving citizens a tangible stake in the sector’s long-term growth. Talks reportedly involved senior Trump administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, though any such plan would likely need Congressional approval.

It remains unclear whether other major AI companies, such as Anthropic, Google, and Meta, would support the proposal.

OpenAI declined to comment on the report. The San Francisco-based firm also confidentially filed draft IPO paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June but has yet to commit to a listing timeline, with some reports suggesting a delay until 2027.