OpenAI To Restructure Non-profit Control, Give CEO Sam Altman Equity; CTO Resigns

(RTTNews) - Chatbot ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which was founded as a non-profit to build safe and beneficial artificial general intelligence or AGI for the benefit of humanity, is considering plans to restructure its core business to become a for-profit benefit business, aiming to attract more investors, reports said citing sources familiar with the matter.

Co-founder and Chief executive Sam Altman will also receive equity for the first time in the Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence or AI startup.

In a separate development, OpenAI's longtime Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, announced her resignation, citing an intent to create her own exploration. She had worked briefly as interim CEO of the company during last year's turmoil, when OpenAI's board abruptly ousted Altman, citing a lack of confidence in him. He was reinstated five days later with huge support from employees and investors, and following the restructuring of its board.

In addition, research chief Bob McGrew and research vice president Barret Zoph also announced their departure from the firm.

Responding to Murati's resignation, Altman, in a post of X platform, said Mira has been instrumental to OpenAI's progress and growth for the last 6.5 years.

"Mira, Bob, and Barret made these decisions independently of each other and amicably, but the timing of Mira's decision was such that it made sense to now do this all at once, so that we can work together for a smooth handover to the next generation of leadership... I have over the past year or so spent most of my time on the non-technical parts of our organization; I am now looking forward to spending most of my time on the technical and product parts of the company," he said.

OpenAI Non-profit was founded in late 2015 for the benefit of humanity, and in 2019, its "capped profit" structure was introduced as a subsidiary of its non-profit. OpenAI's current structure, a partnership between the original Non-profit and a new capped profit arm, was designed as a chassis for OpenAI's mission.

As per the latest reports, it is projected that the new firm will become a for-profit company, and it will no longer be controlled by its non-profit board, while non-profit segment will be retained as a separate entity.

An OpenAI spokesperson reportedly stated that the company remains focused on building AI that benefits everyone, and that non-profit is core to its mission and will continue to exist.

Earlier this year, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI, had filed a lawsuit against the startup alleging that the firm was developing AI for profitability instead of its foundational mission of utilizing it for the benefit of humankind.

The AI startup is expected to be worth more than $150 billion following the planned financing round, a surge from the $14 billion valuation in 2021, while Altman does not hold equity directly in the company. His only interest is indirectly through a Y Combinator investment fund that made a small investment in OpenAI before he was full-time.

Amid the skyrocketing growth, especially after the launch of its highly popular ChatGPT, OpenAI's many key executives have left the firm. OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and former safety leader Jan Leike in May announced that they were leaving the firm. Another co-founder John Schulman last month said that he was leaving to join rival Anthropic.