OpenAI is offering the US government a 5% stake in the company, a move that looks less like sharing AI's upside with the public and more like a bailout and a bid to buy political protection.

• OpenAI would hand Washington a stake worth tens of billions, valuing the company near $850 billion — even though it is burning cash and not profitable.
• The plan would extend to rivals like Anthropic, Google, and Meta, each giving 5% to the government through a sovereign wealth fund.
• The real goal looks like locking in government contracts and writing the AI rules — so whoever gets in the room early can set standards their own company already meets.
• The pressure comes as cheaper Chinese open-source models threaten the subscription business of expensive US AI firms.
• Sam Altman also floated a US-led international body to set AI safety standards, which critics see as a way to block competitors.

Outlook: Expect Altman to push other AI CEOs to join, while the deal fuels debate over the government taking direct stakes in private companies.