OpenAI Backs Down on Restructuring Amid Pushback
WiredMAY 13
OpenAI Abandons Plan to Become For-Profit Company
Above: Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI, speaks at Station F during the AI Action Summit in Paris Feb. 11, 2025. Image copyright: Nathan Laine/Contributor/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
This restructuring preserves OpenAI's founding mission while allowing necessary growth. The nonprofit control ensures AI development remains aligned with public benefit rather than solely with profit motives. Maintaining this governance structure provides critical safeguards as the company develops increasingly powerful AI systems that could have profound societal impacts.
Narrative B
The compromise structure unnecessarily complicates OpenAI's ability to compete in the AI race. Keeping nonprofit control will significantly reduce the company's ability to raise capital, as investors want clear paths to returns on their investments. This half-measure fails to provide the simplified structure needed for the massive funding required to develop artificial general intelligence.