OpenAI is shaking up its corporate structure to bring in new investors and accelerate the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI).
During a Monday press call, OpenAI announced it is converting its subsidiary limited liability company (LLC) into a public benefit corporation (PBC). This will allow the nonprofit OpenAI to maintain control while enabling the PBC to raise more capital and scale its operations.
"There's so much more demand to use AI tools than we thought there was going to be. We're thrilled about that and want to be able to go deliver on that to the world," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told Fox News Digital during the call.
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The nonprofit OpenAI will have an equity stake in the PBC, allowing it to be one of the most well-resourced nonprofits and further its mission. According to the company, the PBC and the nonprofit will have the same mission.
OpenAI said they are having conversations to determine the percentage of shares the nonprofit will hold.
"We made the decision for the nonprofit to retain control of OpenAI after hearing from civic leaders and engaging in constructive dialogue with the offices of the Attorney General of Delaware and the Attorney General of California," OpenAI Chairman Brett Taylor said in a Monday press release.
"We thank both offices, and we look forward to continuing these important conversations to make sure OpenAI can continue to effectively pursue its mission of ensuring AGI benefits all of humanity," he continued.
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During the press call, Taylor said this new structure balances the interests of investors, employees, and the nonprofit's mission. He suggested that it simplifies the corporate structure, enabling the PBC to access more funding to grow and deploy AI tools more widely.
The company noted that these changes are intended to position OpenAI for the future and the significant investment and growth required to achieve its mission of developing beneficial artificial general intelligence (AGI).
In a Monday letter, Altman said it is time for OpenAI to evolve its structure to make its services broadly available "to all of humanity," noting that such an endeavor currently requires hundreds of billions of dollars.
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He also suggested that this shakeup helps OpenAI adhere to its commitment to safety and transparency, referencing the company’s efforts in alignment research and the pursuit of "democratic AI."
Altman said the company hopes OpenAI will become "the largest and most effective nonprofit in history."
"Instead of our current complex capped-profit structure–which made sense when it looked like there might be one dominant AGI effort but doesn’t in a world of many great AGI companies—we are moving to a normal capital structure where everyone has stock. This is not a sale, but a change of structure to something simpler," Altman added.
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