Build AGI that 'benefits all of humanity' (Charter); now a public benefit corporation controlled by a nonprofit foundation.
OpenAI makes ChatGPT and started as a nonprofit promising to put humanity first. It has since become a for-profit giant, loosened its own safety rules, and used subpoenas against small critics.
Focus
- Safety evaluations
- Alignment research
- Transparency
- Benefit sharing
Funding, as far as we know
Corporate: Microsoft (~27% stake), SoftBank, Thrive and others; $500B+ valuation - https://sfist.com/2025/10/29/openai-finalizes-restructuring-with-nonprofit-in-control-state-ag-oks-it/
What they've actually done
Rewrote its Preparedness Framework, adding a clause to adjust safeguards if rivals ship high-risk models and dropping the persuasion category
15 April 2025
Subpoenaed nonprofit critics Encode and The Midas Project in the Musk litigation
2025-09 / 2025-10
Completed restructuring into OpenAI Group PBC with the OpenAI Foundation holding ~26% and pledging $25B to health and AI resilience
28 October 2025
Signed the EU GPAI Code of Practice and scored highest (83%) on the White House voluntary-commitments audit
2025-08