OpenAI proposes donating 5% equity to US sovereign wealth fund
▼ Summary
– OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has proposed donating 5% of the company’s equity to a U.S. sovereign wealth fund, with other AI companies expected to contribute similar stakes.
– The donation aims to secure good relations with the administration and address political backlash.
– The talks remain preliminary, and any formal action would likely require congressional approval.
– OpenAI’s April policy paper proposed a public wealth fund that would invest in AI labs and distribute returns to citizens.
– Senator Bernie Sanders proposed a more aggressive plan in June, taxing AI company stock at 50% to create a public wealth fund.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has floated a proposal to donate 5% of the company’s equity to a U.S. sovereign wealth fund, according to a Thursday report from the Financial Times citing two insiders. The plan would also encourage other artificial intelligence firms to contribute comparable stakes, though many critical details remain undefined.
The FT indicated that the donation is intended to “secure good relations with the administration and … address political blowback.” This is not the first time such an idea has surfaced. CNBC reported similar discussions in June, and President Trump later confirmed he had been involved in talks about “concepts where pieces could be given to the American public, where the American public essentially becomes a partner with the companies.” At that point, no specific equity percentage had been mentioned.
These negotiations are still in a preliminary phase. According to the FT, any formal implementation would likely require congressional approval, a step that could introduce substantial hurdles.
Altman has publicly advocated for a public AI fund, and OpenAI has become increasingly detailed in its proposals for how such a mechanism might function. In April, the company released a policy paper titled “Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age,” which envisioned a public wealth fund capable of investing directly in AI labs and companies using their technology.
“Returns from the Fund could be distributed directly to citizens, allowing more people to participate directly in the upside of AI-driven growth, regardless of their starting wealth or access to capital,” the document states.
A more aggressive version of this concept emerged from Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in June. His bill, the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, would impose a one-time 50% tax on the stock of systemically important AI companies, with the collected shares deposited into a public wealth fund. This would apply to firms involved in data centers, infrastructure, or robotics. Companies like Google and SpaceX, where AI is only part of their operations, could spin off non-AI segments to avoid the tax. The bill has not yet advanced out of committee.
(Source: TechCrunch)
