OpenAI proposed donating 5% of its equity to a US sovereign wealth fund

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has proposed donating 5% of the company’s shares to a US sovereign wealth fund. The Financial Times reported this on Thursdayciting two people familiar with the matter. Under the proposal, other AI companies would donate similar stakes, although major questions remain about the details.

According to the FT reporting, the donation would be intended to “secure good relations with the government and… tackle political backlash.”

There were similar discussions CNBC reported this in June and were subsequently confirmed by President Trump, who said he had “discussed concepts where pieces could be given to the American public, essentially making the American public a partner with the companies.” No specific size for the proposed equity stake was given at the time.

The talks remain preliminary and, according to the FT, it is likely that any formal action would require congressional approval, which would complicate matters significantly.

The idea of ​​a public AI fund has also been publicly discussed by Altman, and OpenAI has become increasingly specific in its proposals for how such a fund could be structured. A policy document was recently published entitled “Industrial policy for the intelligence age”, released by OpenAI in April, proposed a public equity fund that could invest directly in AI labs and companies deploying their technology.

“Proceeds from the Fund could be distributed directly to citizens, allowing more people to directly experience the benefits of AI-powered growth, regardless of their starting ability or access to capital,” the document said.

That was a more aggressive version of the policy proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in June, calling for a one-time 50% tax on the shares of AI companies, with the collected shares being deposited into a public wealth fund. The bill, called the U.S. AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, would apply to all “systemically important” AI companies, including those involved in data centers, infrastructure or robotics. Under the proposal, companies like Google and SpaceX, which view AI as only part of their business, would be allowed to spin off non-AI parts of the company to avoid taxes.

The bill still has to go to committee.