Report: OpenAI Considers Giving US Government 5% Stake
Should the public own a stake in AI companies or would government equity kill American innovation?
Above: Sam Altman at the White House in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 21, 2025. Image credit: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-government narrative
AI was built on the collective work of millions of people. Giving the public a real ownership stake in these companies is the only way to ensure AI's massive gains benefit everyone and make the public a real partner in the AI revolution. A sovereign wealth fund backed by AI equity is the kind of democratic accountability this industry has been dodging.
Government-critical narrative
This would hand politicians a backdoor into controlling what these systems say and produce. Bureaucracies stagnate markets, reward cronyism and freeze out the next generation of startups. America beat every rival by keeping government out of the boardroom, and now taxpayers could foot the bill for these mega-companies.
