# CNBC: Trump White House and OpenAI in Active Talks Over a US Government Equity Stake to Seed a 'Public Wealth Fund' — Trump Confirms on Air Force One That 'Pieces Could Be Given to the American Public'

> CNBC says the White House and OpenAI are in active talks over a federal equity stake feeding OpenAI's proposed Public Wealth Fund.

- Org: CNBC
- Date: 2026-06-05
- Category: ecosystem, rumor
- Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/05/trump-open-ai-altman-stake.html
- Canonical page: https://ai-tldr.dev/releases/trump-openai-public-wealth-fund-equity-talks-jun5/

## In short

CNBC reports active US government equity-stake talks with OpenAI, structured to seed the Public Wealth Fund OpenAI proposed in April. Trump confirmed talks to reporters on Air Force One; no terms, size, or timeline.

## What it is

Per CNBC reporting, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the Trump administration are in ongoing discussions over a US government equity position in OpenAI. The stake would seed the 'Public Wealth Fund' OpenAI floated in its April industrial-policy paper, distributing AI returns to American citizens.

## How it works

OpenAI would donate equity to the federal government, which would hold it inside a long-term, diversified fund modeled on a sovereign wealth fund. CNBC says talks have been running for over a year; Trump told reporters on Air Force One that 'pieces could be given to the American public, where the American public essentially becomes a partner.' No size, term sheet, or timeline has been set.

## Why it matters

OpenAI is valued at over $850B by private investors and is preparing an IPO. A US government equity position in a frontier AI lab would be unprecedented in scale and would set a template that other labs would have to react to, on top of the Intel 10% federal stake the administration took in 2025.

## Who it's for

AI policy watchers, OpenAI investors, frontier-lab governance researchers

## Try it

Read the CNBC original

## Links

- [CNBC Original Report](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/05/trump-open-ai-altman-stake.html)
- [TechCrunch Recap](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/06/the-trump-administration-might-take-an-equity-stake-in-openai/)
- [OpenAI April Policy Proposal](https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/06/openais-vision-for-the-ai-economy-public-wealth-funds-robot-taxes-and-a-four-day-work-week/)
- [Yahoo Finance Coverage](https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/trump-administration-might-equity-stake-161721043.html)