OpenAI has announced plans to transform its for-profit arm into a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation, marking a strategic evolution to sustain its mission while enabling access to conventional equity investment.
The organisation, which began as a research lab in 2015, is adapting its structure to accommodate investment needs reaching hundreds of billions of dollars, as demonstrated by major companies' current investments in AI development.
The restructuring centers on converting OpenAI's existing for-profit entity into a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), designed to balance shareholder interests, stakeholder interests, and a public benefit interest in its decision-making. This transformation represents an evolution from OpenAI's current structure, where a non-profit controls a for-profit with a capped profit share for investors and employees.
The decision follows OpenAI's growth from a research lab operating on initial donations ($137M in cash, plus compute credits including $1.8M from Amazon and $50M+ each from Azure and Google Cloud), to a major player in commercial AI. The company initially estimated that it needed to raise around $10B to build AGI.
The restructuring positions OpenAI to advance its mission while adapting to the realities of large-scale AI development. The organisation's impact is evidenced by ChatGPT's current usage by over 300 million people weekly.
The Board is evaluating this restructuring with outside legal and financial advisors, focusing on choosing the optimal structure for long-term mission success, ensuring non-profit sustainability, and equipping each arm to fulfill its role effectively.