US Officials Reportedly Discuss Government Equity Stakes in AI Companies, Returns to Benefit Public

Digital news outlet NOTUS reported on Thursday, citing three sources, that senior US officials have held preliminary discussions with major artificial intelligence (AI) companies about the possibility of the government taking equity stakes in them. The report said the plan is still in progress and details have not been finalized, with current discussions focusing on companies voluntarily ceding shares to the government. The report also said the returns from these investments would then be used directly for public purposes, such as paying dividends to all American households. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The news comes as OpenAI and Anthropic are preparing for market-stunning initial public offerings (IPOs). Reuters previously reported that OpenAI is preparing to file confidentially for an IPO, and Anthropic, the developer of Claude, filed confidentially for a US listing on June 1. According to NOTUS, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been discussing the idea with government officials since President Donald Trump began his second term. NOTUS noted that Altman first proposed the idea directly to Trump during a conversation in 2025 and has discussed it again in recent weeks with senior government officials as a way to more broadly share the economic benefits of AI with the public. Altman said in 2025 that OpenAI had discussed the possibility of federal loan guarantees with the US government to promote the construction of US chip factories, but had not sought government guarantees for building data centers. The report said Anthropic is not currently discussing ceding shares with the government. The Trump administration said in May it would invest $2 billion in nine quantum computing companies.