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Inside the Battle Over OpenAI’s Corporate Restructuring

Paresh Dave

created: May 2, 2025, 9 a.m. | updated: May 5, 2025, 3:01 p.m.

Last October, the news that OpenAI was planning to simplify its unusual nonprofit structure caught the attention of economic-justice activist Orson Aguilar. But after reading about OpenAI’s desires, he worried that transitioning into a public-benefit corporation empowered to chase profits would enrich the already wealthy and neglect the startup’s stated mission to benefit all of humanity with AI. Today, OpenAI’s for-profit business is controlled by a nonprofit, and the returns for investors are capped. But as OpenAI’s ambitions have grown, and staying on the cutting edge has required it to raise significantly more funding, investors have demanded greater payback. We have a tool already—a nonprofit OpenAI with a stated mission to do good things.

1 month ago: WIRED