Sam Altman Offers OpenAI Stake to US Government, Experts Question Motive
Sam Altman has reportedly offered the US government a 5% stake in OpenAI, a move described by Jason Lamkin as "absurd." The reasoning behind this offer is unclear, but it deviates from the more tangible issues of AI safety and regulation.
personSam AltmancompanyOpenAI
The tape
3 quotes
“To me Sam Altman offering 5% of his company to the US government was much more interesting in some ways”
Harry Stebbings
“What problem is he trying to solve”
Jason Lamkin
“I mean I think it's absurd to be clear”
Jason Lamkin
Heard on The Twenty Minute VC (20VC) — “20VC: Sam Altman Offers Trump 5% of OpenAI: Fool or Genius? | Alex Karp Sounds the Alarm: Enterprises Fear Frontier Models & Questionable ROI of AI | The Rise of Chinese Open Source: Deepseek Building Own Chips”, published Thursday, July 9, 2026. Heardvine summarizes and quotes with attribution and timestamps, and links to the original everywhere.