OpenAi, ChatgPT’s creator, said it should remain under its non -profit controller, while moving with plans to change the structure of your arm for profit to allow more capital capture to maintain the pace in the artificial intelligence race.
The announcement was made after a storm of criticism and legal challenges, including a high -level lawsuit filed by rival and co -founder Elon Musk, who accused OpenAi to deviate from its founding mission of developing the benefit of humanity.
“We have made the decision to maintain control of the non-profit organization after listening to civic leaders and discussing with the offices of California and Delaware Attorneys-General,” the startup said in a blog post on Monday.
She added that she should work with Microsoft, non-profit regulators and commissioners newly named to finish the updated plan.
OpenAi had delineated plans in December to convert its arm with a profit to a public benefit corporation, a structure designed to balance shareholder returns with social goals, unlike non -profit organizations, which focus exclusively on the public good.
The purpose of the change was to help the startup raise more capital and relieve restrictions on its non -profit controller. But it has generated concerns about the company’s choices for asset allocation, it will occur fairly to the non -profit organization and how it should balance profits with its mission of developing for the public good.
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OpenAi said on Monday that the non-profit controlling company will control the public benefit corporation and become a great shareholder of it.
Bret Taylor, chairman of OpenAi, said Monday’s announcement means that the startup will continue to have an “extremely close” structure of the current one.
CEO Sam Altman described it as a commitment “that (works) well enough for investors, who are happy to continue to finance ourselves to the level we think we will need.”
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“We believe this value is well above what we need to raise resources,” Altman said in a conference call, adding that “there were no changes in any relationship with existing investors.”
OpenAi announced in March that it would raise up to $ 40 billion in a new round of financing led by Softbank Group, with an valuation of $ 300 billion. The round was conditioned to the transition from the AI to the status of for profit by the end of the year.
Altman said OpenAi could still receive funding from the Japanese investor in technology after Monday’s change.
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Softbank did not immediately respond to a comment request, while Microsoft was declined to comment.
Still, some analysts said that maintaining non -profit control could limit OpenAI’s ability to raise capital as aggressively as in a more conventional corporate structure.
“Although it seems to solve the problems the company was facing when trying to become a profitable entity, it still maintains the non-profit organization as the main owner of the public benefit corporation, so it is not very clear what changes,” said Bob O’Donnell, Chief Analyst at Technolysis Research.
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The announcement also raises questions about the future of Musk’s lawsuit, which seeks to block OpenAI’s transition out of control of non -profit organizations, among other allegations. A jury trial had been scheduled for March 2026.
A consortium led by Musk also made an unquenso offer of $ 97.4 billion by OpenAi earlier this year, quickly rejected by Altman with a “no, thank you.”
Tesla’s CEO has a competitor AI startup, the Xai, launched in 2023.
OpenAi’s structure caught the eye in November 2023 during one of the greatest dramas in Silicon Valley, when members of the non -profit board board expelled Altman due to a failure in communication and loss of confidence. He was reinstated five days later, after a demonstration of support from employees and investors.
