Open AI floats giving US 5% stake to win over AI haters - Ars Technica

Overview

Trump gets Open AI to offer US 5% stake, far lower than Sanders’ target

Insiders say Sam Altman is in active talks with the Trump administration.

Details

Open AI CEO Sam Altman is reportedly in active talks with the Trump administration about the US potentially acquiring a 5 percent stake in the leading AI firm.

Insider sources told the Financial Times that these talks are in “early stages,” but Altman “has argued that giving the public a financial stake in the company is the best way to share the upside of AI.”

Donald Trump favors the idea, and his administration has reportedly been talking to several AI firms about the possibility. According to FT’s sources, other companies approached to share similar stakes include Google and Meta.

None of the firms are commenting on FT’s report, though, and Google and Meta have not indicated that they agree with Altman that a 5 percent stake would be an appropriate size to cede to the public. Perhaps notably, Meta has not even voluntarily agreed to share frontier AI models with officials for safety testing, The New York Times reported last week.

But AI firms may be willing to give a little if they expect it will help them gain a lot.

Currently, AI firms like Open AI are combating what Axios billed as an “AI hate wave.” Recent polls find that 70 percent of Americans don’t want AI data centers built in their area and half of Americans are more concerned than excited about AI. In June, Pew Research Center noted that although chatbots and AI summaries are becoming more popular, “views about AI and how fast it’s advancing tilt negative—even for younger adults.”

Both parties are aware this could impact upcoming elections—and possibly even elections well into the future. Earlier this week, NBC News reported that voters across party lines want tighter AI regulations. Trump and AI firms have claimed that overregulation could threaten America’s lead in the AI race with China.

To combat anti-AI sentiment and try to encourage the American public to embrace AI, Open AI has suggested that the US create a sovereign wealth fund similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund. That fund invests Alaska’s oil wealth “into stocks and pays dividends to the state government and residents,” FT reported.

In the spring, Open AI first proposed creating an AI wealth fund that “provides every citizen—including those not invested in financial markets—with a stake in AI-driven economic growth,” FT reported. For society to benefit as much as possible, an Open AI blog said, an “AI-led future” will likely require “new approaches that give people durable stakes in the systems creating value.”

So far, Open AI has talked with Trump officials such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, as well as Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), sources told FT.

Sanders has made it clear he’s not impressed with the numbers Open AI is discussing, though. Last month, sources familiar with Sanders’ discussions with Altman told AP News that Altman remained “far apart” from the senator on how much stake in Open AI the American public should have.

At that time, Sanders revealed his legislative proposal, which would create a much larger sovereign public wealth fund.

Sanders’ plan requires leading AI firms to pay a one-time 50 percent tax on their stock. Sanders estimated that the tax would yield about $7 trillion, which could be disbursed as direct payments to Americans or invested in programs such as health care, education, and housing.

According to FT, Open AI has claimed that gifting a 5 percent stake to the US would give Americans more control over AI. But Sanders said the best way to ensure the public benefits from AI is to create a bipartisan Independent Commission for Democratic AI, with members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. That commission could use voting shares to block leading AI firms from making decisions that could harm the public, Sanders told AP News.

“The public has got to have a significant seat at the table to make sure that terrible things do not happen to ordinary people, and that in fact, AI benefits ordinary people, not hurts them,” Sanders said.

For Open AI’s “conceptual” proposal to work, Congress may have to get involved to implement the mechanisms that would allow the US to take a stake in any AI firms, FT reported. So it seems likely that Open AI and other firms will be locking horns with Sanders to negotiate what’s fair and what keeps the public safe as AI technology rapidly advances and Americans fear job losses, cybersecurity risks, and a range of harms associated with massive data centers needed to power AI innovation.

Ars could not immediately reach Sanders for comment.

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Key Takeaways

Trump gets Open AI to offer US 5% stake, far lower than Sanders’ target
Insiders say Sam Altman is in active talks with the Trump administration
Open AI CEO Sam Altman is reportedly in active talks with the Trump administration about the US potentially acquiring a 5 percent stake in the leading AI firm
Insider sources told the Financial Times that these talks are in “early stages,” but Altman “has argued that giving the public a financial stake in the company is the best way to share the upside of AI
Donald Trump favors the idea, and his administration has reportedly been talking to several AI firms about the possibility