OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has withdrawn its plan to transition to a for-profit corporation and decided to maintain a structure where a nonprofit organization controls the business, raising concerns about potential setbacks in attracting large investments.
According to reports from foreign media outlets including The New York Times on the 5th, OpenAI stated in a release that even if it restructures into a public corporation, the nonprofit organization will retain overall control of the business. A public corporation pursues profit as well as social responsibility, but through this restructuring, OpenAI aims to operate its subsidiaries on a revenue-based model while retaining decision-making authority within the nonprofit organization as before.
OpenAI launched as a nonprofit organization in 2015 and has sought to transition to a for-profit model due to the necessity of securing funding as competition in AI intensified following the release of ChatGPT. However, amid criticism that this contradicts its founding intentions and legal pushback, it has altered course. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, previously filed a lawsuit against CEO Sam Altman and others last year, claiming that OpenAI violated its promise of nonprofit operations and breached contracts with investors. Also, Professor Geoffrey Hinton from the University of Toronto, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and civic groups have submitted opposing opinions to the court.
There are also speculations that this policy of maintaining the structure may disadvantage OpenAI in attracting investments. Recently, it had been promising a transition to for-profit to secure funds from major investors like SoftBank. However, CEO Altman asserted that "this decision will not affect the $30 billion investment from SoftBank (about 42 trillion won)."
Meanwhile, OpenAI has decided to acquire the AI coding service corporation "WindSurf" for $3 billion (about 4 trillion won), continuing its business expansion.