U.S. officials discuss taking financial stakes in AI industry

WASHINGTON—Senior U.S. officials have discussed having the federal government take stakes in major artificial-intelligence companies, according to people familiar with the matter, after OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman pitched the idea to the administration last year.

Such a move would allow the government to share in the potential economic upside of the fast-evolving technology, give the AI companies a stamp of approval from those in charge of regulating their models and potentially temper rising anxiety about the economic fallout of the AI revolution as several AI companies prepare to go public.