OpenAI is debating whether to offer a five percent stake in its near-trillion-dollar business to the US government.

As part of the proposed arrangement, reported by the Financial Times, rival AI labs would also be expected to give a similar stake. It is not known if Anthropic, Google, Amazon, or others would be keen to do so.

Such a deal is still “conceptual," but could see the stake transferred to a sovereign wealth fund. Early discussions have been held with the government, but it could require an act of Congress.

Giving the US a stake in the company is viewed as a way to ensure President Donald Trump supports the business, as it increasingly faces political hurdles on investment, data center power, and AI model releases.

A similar case is seen with Intel, where Trump routinely criticized the business before the government bought a 10 percent stake. He has since vocally supported the company and announced a partnership with Apple.

AI companies have increasingly become targets of the state.

After the US government temporarily blocked the release of rival Anthropic's latest models, OpenAI said that it would also limit the release of its latest GPT-5.6 model.

The company said that, at the administration’s request, it would provide the model only to a few select partners “whose participation has been shared with the government.”

The company said at the time: "We don’t believe this kind of government access process should become the long-term default. It keeps the best tools from users, developers, enterprises, cyber defenders, and global partners who need them.”

OpenAI, which is hiring Trump White House AI policy official Dean Ball, has also proposed a “public wealth fund” that “provides every citizen - including those not invested in financial markets - with a stake in AI-driven economic growth.”

CEO Sam Altman has spoken to Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He has also spoken to Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who has pushed for public ownership of around 50 percent and proposed a nationwide data center moratorium.