Cristina Criddle and George HammondJul 2, 2026 – 4.00pmSan Francisco | OpenAI has discussed giving a 5 per cent stake to the US government as the $US852 billion ($1.2 trillion) AI start-up seeks to clear political obstacles by securing financial buy-in from the Trump administration.Sam Altman, chief executive of the ChatGPT maker, has argued that giving the public a financial stake in the company is the best way to share the upside of AI and has suggested a stake of this size in early conversations with the administration, according to two people familiar with the talks.Financial TimesSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles