US Officials in Talks to Have Government Acquire Shares in AI Giants

Senior US officials have held preliminary talks with major AI firms about the federal government acquiring equity stakes in their businesses, according to a NOTUS report. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been a central figure in pushing the concept.

What is actually being discussed

Senior US officials have held preliminary discussions with major artificial intelligence companies about the potential for the federal government to acquire some shares in their firms, according to three people familiar with the matter.

While planning is ongoing and details are in flux, discussions have centered on having the firms voluntarily cede the shares to the government. Any revenue from those assets could be allocated for broad societal advantage, including the prospect of distributing dividend payments straight to U.S. households.

Altman's role and the OpenAI angle

Altman first pitched the concept directly to President Donald Trump in a conversation in early 2025, and has discussed it again with senior administration officials in recent weeks as a way to more broadly distribute the economic benefits of AI to the public.

A person familiar with the talks told CNBC that OpenAI could donate equity to help establish a proposed “Public Wealth Fund,” an idea outlined in the company's April policy proposal. The fund would “invest in diversified, long-term assets” and could allow citizens to share in the “upside” of AI-driven economic growth, potentially through direct returns.

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Legal hurdles and political pushback

The legal mechanism for any AI firm to turn over equity to the government is unclear and may pose an obstacle to putting the idea into effect. It is also not clear how far the talks have progressed, and several people cautioned that the deal may ultimately not come together.

Critics from both sides are circling. Steve Bannon, like Senator Bernie Sanders, has argued the government should take as much as 50% of the companies' equity. Nat Purser of Public Knowledge flagged a conflict-of-interest issue, cautioning against any setup that makes the government less inclined to impose or enforce safety regulations because doing so might diminish the worth of its own holdings.

The bigger pattern: Washington taking stakes in private firms

Since resuming office, the current President has pursued government ownership stakes in private enterprises, completing at least 10 such arrangements, including a share in chipmaker Intel. He has publicly expressed a desire to continue pursuing additional such deals.

Anthropic confidentially filed its prospectus with the SEC on June 1 at a reported $965 billion valuation; OpenAI is preparing its own filing, last reportedly valued at $852 billion in March 2026. Anthropic is not in these conversations, a person familiar with the matter told NOTUS.

Options market and stocks to watch

This story sits at the intersection of AI, regulation, and IPO pipeline risk. A few names worth watching:

INTC: Watch for renewed flow given Intel is already cited as a precedent for government equity stakes in private companies.

MSFT: Watch for sensitivity as Microsoft's OpenAI exposure could be reshaped if Washington takes a slice of OpenAI's cap table.

NVDA: Watch for any read-through on AI compute demand if government equity terms come with strings on safety or deployment.

GOOGL and META: Watch for spillover, as both are AI giants that could plausibly fall into a similar framework if the idea gains traction. For more on this story and related AI policy moves, check other news.

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