OpenAI is considering a strategic restructuring harmonize its profitable and non-profit branches. The proposal aims to create governance oriented to the common good, addressing criticism about the organization’s legal structure.
Let’s see all the details in this article.
Restructuring in sight for for-profit and non-profit branches: OpenAI could become a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation
OpenAI, the creator of the famous ChatGPT, is considering a significant reorganization of its corporate structure to address growing criticism and ensure a balance between commercial interests and social benefit.
The company is considering transforming its for-profit division into a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). That is, a legal configuration that forces companies to balance interests of shareholders with those of society and interest groups.
The announcement, which came through a official publication on the OpenAI blog on December 27, marks an important step in the organization’s strategy.
According to OpenAI, converting to PBC would allow it to obtain capital on more favorable conditions, in line with the practices adopted by other innovative companies.
The new structure could also strengthen the nonprofit component of the organization, allowing for the hiring of specialized personnel for charitable projects in the fields of health, education and science.
The company in its publication stated the following:
“The PBC will allow us to carry out our mission of generating value for society while maintaining a balance between economic objectives and the public interest.”
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Criticisms of the current structure
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As mentioned, OpenAI’s structure has generated controversy since 2019, when the company decided to add a for profit division to the original nonprofit foundation.
This choice was motivated by the need to raise substantial capital to support the development of complex artificial intelligence models. However, many observers have accused OpenAI of betraying its original mission.
Criticism intensified in 2024, when Elon Muskco-founder of OpenAI, filed a lawsuit against the company and its CEO, Sam Altman.
In fact, Musk claims that OpenAI’s leadership manipulated his involvement, exploiting his ethical concerns about the risks of artificial intelligence and transforming the organization into a purely commercial entity.
According to the lawsuit, OpenAI allegedly “abandoned philanthropic principles” to focus on making high profits. Thus attracting the ire not only of Musk, but also of other critics of the sector, such as David Sacosan influential advisor to the Trump administration.
In any case, the restructuring proposal comes at a time when artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly central to multiple sectors, from blockchain to healthcare.
According VanEck, As an asset manager, by 2025 AI agents built with models like ChatGPT will play an increasingly important role in decentralized communities, with an estimated population of one million active agents.
OpenAI is therefore at a crucial crossroads: continue in this direction with the current structure or adopt a more transparent model oriented to the common good.
Transforming into a PBC could represent a compromise between fundraising needs and the need to maintain public trust.
