OpenAI has decided that its nonprofit division will retain control over its for-profit organization, going against previous plans to convert to a for-profit organization. “OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit, and is today overseen and controlled by that nonprofit,” OpenAI Board Chairman Bret Taylor wrote in a statement on the company’s blog. “Going forward, it will continue to be overseen and controlled by that nonprofit.”
The company stated that the decision was made “after hearing from civic leaders and engaging in constructive dialogue with the offices of the Attorney General of Delaware and the Attorney General of California.”
“We thank both offices and we look forward to continuing these important conversations to make sure OpenAI can continue to effectively pursue its mission,” Taylor said.
READ: Elon Musk’s bid to halt OpenAI’s for-profit shift denied by US court (March 5, 2025)
OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit — in 2019, it was restructured as a “capped-profit,” while retaining its nonprofit wing. Later, it attempted to restructure as a for-profit organization. This nonprofit wing currently has a controlling stake in the company’s corporate arm.
The company had claimed its conversion was necessary to raise the capital needed to grow and expand its operations. This move had brought about opposition from many, including billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who had co-founded OpenAI. While Musk accused the company of deviating from its original mission of developing AI for public good rather than profit, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman retorted by claiming Musk originally supported the plans to transition into a for-profit company. While Musk filed a lawsuit to stall this move, it was denied by a U.S. court, and OpenAI hit back with a counter lawsuit.
OpenAI’s decision to convert to a for-profit organization was also opposed by several Nobel laureates, law professors, and civil society organizations who sent letters to Bonta and Delaware’s attorney general, Kathy Jennings, requesting that they halt the startup’s restructuring efforts.
In a letter to staff on Monday, which was also published on OpenAI’s blog, Sam Altman said he thinks OpenAI may eventually require “trillions of dollars” to fulfill its goal of “making the company’s services broadly available to all of humanity.”