To add details

July 2 (Reuters) - OpenAI has discussed giving the U.S. government a 5 percent stake, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, as artificial intelligence firms face scrutiny in Washington over the potential misuse of advanced models and whether Americans will benefit from the sector's huge valuations.

The report, citing two people familiar with the discussions, indicated that the developer of the AI-powered chatbot (ChatGBT) suggested that other US AI companies should give Washington similar stakes, although it was unclear whether those companies would agree to this.

This move comes in the wake of a growing wave of public disapproval in the United States over the potential for artificial intelligence to cause economic disruptions, including layoffs, and may help strengthen OpenAI’s relationship with an administration that is playing an increasingly important role in regulating the sector.

A request from President Donald Trump's administration prompted OpenAI to postpone the release of its latest artificial intelligence model, GPT-5.6, last week, just days after rival Anthropic suspended access to its more advanced models, including Fable 5, due to a government order prohibiting foreign nationals from acquiring that technology. The United States lifted the restrictions on Anthropic's AI models on Tuesday.

Reuters has not yet been able to verify the Financial Times report. OpenAI, Anthropic, Alphabet (Google's parent company), SpaceX (owner of XAI), and the White House have not yet responded to requests for comment.

The Financial Times said the framework proposed by OpenAI officials stipulates that major US AI companies allocate five percent of their equity to a fund modeled after the Alaska Permanent Fund, a state-owned company funded by oil revenues, which pays annual dividends to residents and contributes to the Alaska state budget.

The newspaper added that Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, discussed the proposed stake with Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bisent. It further stated that he also spoke with Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders in recent weeks.