(Bloomberg) – OpenAI is pushing forward plans to become a more traditional for-profit business, but with a key change designed to appease critics: Once the restructuring is completed, the company's nonprofit will continue to control the entire business.
The changes in the plan reflect the complexity of OpenAI's ongoing corporate restructuring program, which has been scrutinized by former employees, academia and competitors, some urging state regulators in Delaware and California to stop the move.
“After hearing about the citizen leader and having constructive conversations with the Delaware Attorney General and California attorney general, we decided that nonprofits retain control of OpenAI,” OpenAI board chairman Bret Taylor said in a statement Monday. “We thank both offices and we look forward to continuing these important conversations.”
Chatgpt Maker was founded as a nonprofit organization a decade ago with the mission of building artificial intelligence that benefits humans. Four years later, Openai created a for-profit subsidiary to help fund the high costs of AI development. Openai said in December that it is evaluating a plan to turn its business into a public welfare company while retaining a nonprofit sector that will own shares in a for-profit entity but no longer control it.
A simplified for-profit structure is considered to be more attractive to investors. As part of Openai’s huge new $40 billion round of funding, Openai also has a lot of motivation to quickly complete the company’s transformation. If its restructuring is not completed by the end of the year, chief investor Softbank Group Corp. can choose to reduce its total donation from $30 billion to $20 billion, and OpenAI can seek more investors to increase the amount.
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