OpenAI: Altman considers selling 5% to a US sovereign fund

OpenAI: Altman Considers Selling 5% to a US Sovereign Fund

OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, has proposed selling 5% of the company's shares to a US sovereign fund, according to a report from the Financial Times published Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter. As part of this proposal, other AI companies would be invited to make similar donations, although significant questions remain regarding the details.

According to the FT report, this donation aims to "secure good relations with the administration and... respond to political backlash."

Similar discussions were reported by CNBC in June and confirmed by President Trump, who stated he had discussed "concepts where shares could be given to the American public, where the American public would essentially become a partner of the companies." At that time, no specific size for the proposed equity stake was mentioned.

The discussions remain preliminary, and according to the FT, any formal action would likely require Congressional approval, which would significantly complicate the situation.

The idea of a public fund for AI has also been publicly discussed by Altman, and OpenAI has clarified its proposals regarding the structure of such a fund. More recently, a policy document titled "Industrial Policy for the Age of Intelligence," published by OpenAI in April, proposed a public wealth fund that could invest directly in AI labs and companies deploying their technology.

"The returns from the fund could be distributed directly to citizens, allowing a greater number of people to participate directly in the benefits of AI-driven growth, regardless of their initial wealth or access to capital," the document states.

A more aggressive version of this policy was 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 deposited into a public wealth fund. The bill, titled American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, would apply to all "systemically important" AI companies, including those dealing with data centers, infrastructure, or robotics. According to the proposal, companies like Google and SpaceX, which include AI as only part of their business, would be allowed to separate the non-AI portions of the company to avoid taxation.

The bill has not yet progressed in committee.