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Giving every American a stake in AI sounds great until you do the math

Plans to give Americans a stake in AI crumble against basic math. A public share without board representation offers money but no influence

Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images

American AI companies are collectively worth trillions of dollars, and lawmakers, Nobel-winning economists, and AI executives themselves are asking whether ordinary citizens should own a piece of them.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has been discussing a plan to give the U.S. government a 5% equity stake in his company, according to a Financial Times report from early July. Altman wants other leading AI firms to do the same, with equity flowing into a government-run fund modeled on Alaska's Permanent Fund, which invests oil wealth and distributes annual payments to residents. The talks are in early stages, and any deal would likely require an act of Congress.

The proposal comes as public opinion on AI has turned sharply negative. More than 200 economists, including 16 Nobel laureates, have warned that AI could put millions of workers out of jobs within years, not the decades that previous waves of automation required. A fund could cushion blow, if it's structured properly.

Why Altman's 5% offer is smaller than it sounds

Altman first raised the idea with the Trump administration in 2025, according to CNBC, and........

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