OpenAI Eyes 5% Equity Donation to US Sovereign Wealth Fund

The proposal mirrors concepts previously discussed by President Trump, who suggested that the American public could function as a stakeholder in high-growth tech firms. While OpenAI has been refining these ideas since releasing its April white paper, "Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age," the path to implementation remains fraught with obstacles. Formalizing such a transfer would likely necessitate congressional intervention, a process that industry analysts expect to be lengthy and contentious.

Legislative interest in this space is already intensifying. Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act in June, which takes a far more aggressive stance than Altman’s voluntary model. Sanders’ bill seeks a one-time 50% tax on stock from "systemically important" AI companies, with proceeds funneled into a national fund. While the bill currently sits stagnant, it highlights a growing bipartisan appetite to regulate the economic windfall of AI. For now, OpenAI’s discussions remain preliminary, serving as both a strategic hedge against regulatory scrutiny and a blueprint for how private labs might integrate with federal policy.