AI giant tries to buy peace? According to TechCrunch on July 22, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is lobbying an unprecedented proposal: donating 5% of the company's equity to a U.S. sovereign wealth fund. The move aims to "ensure good government relations and mitigate political backlash" while letting the American public directly share in AI's economic fruits. But Congress appears hungrier — Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced a bill to impose a 50% AI stock tax.
Altman's 5% Equity Chip: Courting Government and Public
Citing the Financial Times, the report reveals that Altman's core goal is to reduce regulatory hostility by donating 5% equity, even hoping to inspire other AI companies to follow suit. President Donald Trump confirmed discussions back in June 2026, saying "giving some shares to the American public so they become partners." This is the first time the specific 5% figure has been disclosed.
OpenAI's Long Game: Universal AI Dividend
The public AI fund concept is no spur-of-the-moment idea. In April, OpenAI released a policy paper titled Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age, proposing a public wealth fund that invests directly in AI labs and deploying firms. It stressed that "fund returns would be distributed directly to citizens", allowing everyone — regardless of initial wealth or capital access — to benefit from AI-driven growth.
Sanders' Radical 50% Tax: A Silicon Valley Shock
Just as Altman extends an olive branch, Congress pushes a far more aggressive stance. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders in June proposed the "American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act," targeting "systemically important" AI entities (including infrastructure and robotics) with a mandatory 50% stock tax. If giants like Google have only partial AI operations, they would need to spin off business units to avoid the tax. The bill has not yet entered committee review but has rattled Silicon Valley.
Congressional Hurdles High, Talks Still Nascent
Both OpenAI's donation offer and Sanders' tax bill are in very early discussion stages. Establishing a sovereign wealth fund and accepting equity requires full congressional approval, a long and complex process. Yet this development signals that AI technology has transcended commercial competition to become a matter of national wealth distribution and social contract reshaping. Whether Silicon Valley can trade equity for breathing room will be the biggest regulatory spectacle in coming years.