OpenAI Restructures as Public Benefit Corporation, Citing Need for More Capital

Dec 27, 2024, 01:44 PM

OpenAI, founded a decade ago as a nonprofit research organization, is evaluating a restructuring plan to transform its for-profit arm into a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) with ordinary shares of stock. Detailed in a recent blog post, the change aims to better align the company's corporate structure with its mission of ensuring artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity. OpenAI acknowledges it needs 'more capital than we'd imagined' and believes the PBC structure will enable it to raise necessary capital on conventional terms, similar to others in the field. The non-profit arm will continue to exist, holding shares in the new PBC and hiring staff to pursue charitable initiatives in healthcare, education, and science, potentially creating one of the best-resourced non-profits in history. The PBC will oversee commercial operations, separating the rapidly growing business from non-profit oversight and supporting the development of the AGI economy. The plan faces opposition from figures such as Elon Musk.