OpenAI Group PBC has reportedly floated the idea of giving a 5% stake to the U.S. government.

Sources told the Financial Times today that the ChatGPT developer’s executives made the suggestion during talks with Trump administration officials. According to the report, the discussions are at an early stage.

The development doesn’t come as a complete surprise. Last month, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI had first approached the White House with its government stake proposal more than a year ago. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed the discussions by telling reporters that such an arrangement “could be a beautiful thing.”

OpenAI received a $852 billion valuation following its most recent funding round in March. A 5% stake would be worth $42.6 billion. The value of the shares could increase following OpenAI’s initial public offering, which the company reportedly hopes will boost its valuation to $1 trillion. 

The White House’s discussions with OpenAI are said to be part of a broader AI policy push. According to the Financial Times, the initiative could also see the government take 5% stakes in other AI developers.

A 5% stake in Anthropic PBC would be worth $48.25 billion at the company’s current valuation. A similar number of Google LLC and Meta Platforms Inc. shares would be worth even more. It’s unclear whether the White House will also seek stakes in emerging, heavily funded AI labs such as Ineffable Intelligence Inc. and Yann LeCun’s AMI Labs.

It’s believed that the initiative may require an act of Congress to approve.

A few weeks ago, the U.S. government took stakes in nine quantum computer developers, including IBM Corp. Earlier, U.S. Steel Corp. gave the White House a so-called golden share to win approval for its merger with Nippon Steel Corp. The golden share enables the government to veto production facility shutdowns and certain other business decisions. It’s unclear whether officials will seek a similar arrangement with AI providers.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Commerce Department removed export controls that it had imposed on Anthropic’s latest language models a few days earlier. A government stake in leading AI labs may enable the White House to more actively regulate their research and go-to-market efforts. 

According to CNBC, the government’s prospective AI lab shares could be placed in a sovereign wealth fund. OpenAI proposed such an investment vehicle in a policy paper published earlier this year. The document argues that the sovereign wealth fund should invest in AI labs and companies that are using those labs’ software to optimize their business operations.

Photo: Focal Foto/Flickr