High-ranking federal officials have engaged in early-stage conversations with leading artificial intelligence companies regarding the possibility of the government acquiring ownership positions in these firms, according to a Thursday report from digital news publication NOTUS, which cited three sources with knowledge of the discussions.
The planning remains in development with shifting details, but conversations have focused on arrangements where companies would voluntarily transfer ownership shares to the federal government, according to the report.
Profits from these investments could potentially be allocated for public benefit, including distributing dividend payments to American families nationwide, the report indicated.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify the report’s claims.
This news emerges as OpenAI and Anthropic are preparing for major public stock offerings. OpenAI is getting ready to privately submit IPO paperwork, as Reuters had previously reported, while Anthropic, the company behind Claude, privately filed for a U.S. public offering on Monday.
According to the report, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has engaged in discussions about this concept with government officials since President Donald Trump started his second term. Altman initially presented the idea directly to Trump during a 2025 conversation and has revisited the topic with senior administration officials in recent weeks as a method to more widely share AI’s economic advantages with the general public, NOTUS reported.
In 2025, Altman stated that OpenAI has engaged with the federal government regarding potential federal loan guarantees to encourage domestic chip manufacturing facility construction, though the company has not pursued government guarantees for its data center development.
The report noted that Anthropic is not engaging in discussions with the administration about offering government equity.
OpenAI, Anthropic, and the White House did not provide immediate responses to Reuters’ requests for comment regarding the NOTUS report.
On Tuesday, Trump issued an executive order requesting that major AI developers voluntarily submit their most advanced models for government cybersecurity evaluation prior to public release.
The administration announced in May that it would acquire $2 billion in ownership stakes across nine quantum computing companies.
