- OpenAI maintains its nonprofit foundation's control over the new Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), following intense legal, regulatory, and industry pressure.
- The transformation into a PBC allows OpenAI to attract private investment and offer shares to employees and investors, while maintaining its ethical and social mandate.
- Elon Musk and other critics have questioned OpenAI's direction, prompting a review of its structure and a reaffirmation of its original mission to benefit humanity.
- The hybrid model seeks to balance financial sustainability, AGI development, and positive social impact, placing OpenAI in a unique position relative to other technology firms.
OpenAI has announced a major change in its corporate structure. After months of speculation, internal debate, and external pressure, the lab that created ChatGPT will retain primary control in the hands of its non-profit organization, although its business subsidiary will operate as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). This legal formula, widely used in the United States by companies with social objectives, will allow OpenAI to pursue profitability without losing its ethical focus and positive social impact.
The decision comes after a period marked by the Controversy over the possible total conversion of OpenAI into a for-profit company. Personalities from the technology sector, former employees, members of the scientific community and, especially, Elon Musk, have criticized the company's direction and have even initiated legal proceedings to prevent what they understood as a risk to the founding mission: to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity.
The change of course: from limited profit to the Public Benefit Corporation
Since its origin in 2015, OpenAI operated as a fully non-profit organization. However, the need to capture funds to develop increasingly powerful models led to the creation of a limited-profit commercial subsidiary in 2019. In the midst of the explosion of generative AI and faced with high demand for capital—following multi-million-dollar investments from Microsoft and SoftBank—OpenAI had considered the possibility of completely changing its model.
El The new approach means that the non-profit foundation will continue to oversee and control the business activity.The commercial subsidiary will indeed become a Public Benefit Corporation, but this does not mean handing over control to outside shareholders. According to Bret Taylor, chairman of the board of directors, "the nonprofit organization will be the PBC's principal shareholder and will safeguard its social mission."
This structure provides flexibility to attract investment—now Employees and investors will be able to receive shares directly—but it introduces explicit legal obligations regarding the positive impact on society. Sam Altman, the company's CEO, himself has emphasized that "It is not a sale, but a simplification to grow without losing our reason for being«.
Regulatory pressures, Musk's pulse, and the institutional crisis
Doubts about the balance between ethics and profitability have been on the table for years. The trigger for the final decision, however, was the pressure from state agencies and prominent members of the industry. Attorneys General of California and Delaware They oversaw the process and received letters from former employees, award-winning scientists, and thought leaders concerned about a loss of direction at OpenAI.
On the other hand, Elon Musk, co-founder of the company, has been one of the most visible criticsMusk filed a lawsuit after leaving the company, accusing OpenAI of compromising its founding mission to favor the interests of major investors like Microsoft. OpenAI, in response, emphasized that "the foundation will retain full control over the new PBC, while maintaining its ethical approach."
Economic drive and social mission: challenges and opportunities
OpenAI is experiencing a moment of unprecedented growth: ChatGPT accumulates Hundreds of millions of users and the company's valuation is already around $300.000 billion.The company has set very ambitious revenue targets for the coming years, but The magnitude of the investment needed to move towards AGI is colossal"We're talking trillions of dollars in infrastructure, chips, and top-tier talent," Altman acknowledges.
The new structure allows OpenAI offer returns to investors and employees without them being able to impose their will override the collective mission. The PBC model has also been adopted by other companies in the sector, such as Anthropic and X.ai, but OpenAI maintains as a distinctive feature that control remains in the hands of the original foundation.
Transparency, ethical commitment, and future challenges of AGI
OpenAI maintains that this evolution responds to the need to combine Transparency, ethics and business strengthAltman and Taylor's public commitment aims to continue working "with governments, businesses, and civil society to ensure that artificial intelligence remains accessible, responsible, and open."
The debate over OpenAI's future remains open. Some warn that the new model could make it more difficult to raise large capital compared to purely commercial structures, nor that the foundation's control could come under pressure as the global race for AGI progresses. However, the company has submitted a Intermediate and dynamic solution: raising resources without losing sight of social benefits.
OpenAI continues in a stage where it seeks Demonstrate that it is possible to lead the most disruptive technological innovation of the 21st century without relegating ethics and the general interestSociety and the industry will remain closely watching to see whether he manages to keep that promise over time.
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