Altman Pitches Washington A 5% Openai Stake Days After GPT-5.6 Delay

(MENAFN- Investor Ideas) newswire ) a trusted platform for investing ideas including AI and technology stocks issues market commentary on today's artificial intelligence movers.

OpenAI has held preliminary discussions about giving the US government a 5 percent equity stake in the company, CNBC reported, citing an original Financial Times story. According to the report, the arrangement was described as conceptual and early stage, with two people familiar with the matter saying CEO Sam Altman raised the idea in discussions with the Trump administration as part of a broader plan under which Washington would hold 5 percent of each leading US AI developer through a government vehicle modeled on the Alaska Permanent Fund, the state's sovereign wealth fund valued near $91.2 billion as of May 31 that pays residents an annual dividend from oil revenue.

Advertisement

At OpenAI's $852 billion post money valuation from its March 2026 funding round, a 5 percent stake would be worth roughly $42.6 billion. Bloomberg reported that Altman has engaged directly with President Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and has also spoken with Senator Bernie Sanders, who has pushed a far more expansive version of the idea involving 50 percent public ownership of major AI firms. Any formal arrangement would likely require Congressional approval. OpenAI declined to comment and the White House did not immediately respond, according to the reporting.

It remains unclear whether Anthropic, Google or Meta would participate in a similar arrangement; one source said the administration and Anthropic have not discussed a government stake. The report follows OpenAI's April 2026 policy paper proposing a public wealth fund, and comes days after the company delayed the full public launch of GPT-5.6 at the government's request. For context on precedent, the US government acquired a 9.9 percent stake in Intel in August 2025 through an $8.9 billion investment funded by remaining CHIPS Act grants and Secure Enclave program funds, while AMD and Nvidia separately agreed to hand over 15 percent of their China chip revenue in exchange for export licenses.

Wedbush analysts said an outcome broadly consistent with the reported plan would be positive for the AI sector and related hardware companies, citing potential government support for AI supply chains and infrastructure development and a reduced likelihood of delays to future model releases, according to commentary carried by Proactive and Yahoo Finance. That view is an analyst opinion rather than a confirmed outcome, and OpenAI itself has not confirmed the structure or terms of any stake.

US equity markets are closed today for the observed Independence Day holiday, so the read through to Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet and Meta will not be testable in live share prices until Monday's reopen. Figures above reflect reporting as of this morning and are subject to change as OpenAI, the White House or Congress comment further.

MENAFN30102026000142011025ID1111894106