Key Takeaways
- Artificial intelligence startup OpenAI said it needs to raise more capital than expected, and laid out plans for transitioning toward a for-profit structure next year.
- The ChatGPT maker said its existing for-profit division will become a corporation with ordinary shares of stock.
- It plans to maintain a non-profit arm that will undertake charitable initiatives.
Artificial intelligence (AI) startup OpenAI said Friday it needs to raise more money than expected to meet its goals, and laid out plans for transitioning toward a for-profit structure.
OpenAI was founded as a non-profit with the stated mission of “building safe and beneficial artificial general intelligence for the benefit of humanity.” However, it has since shifted to a hybrid “capped profit” structure with a for-profit subsidiary controlled by its non-profit arm, in order to raise the funds to support its work.
“The hundreds of billions of dollars that major companies are now investing into AI development show what it will really take for OpenAI to continue pursuing the mission,” OpenAI said in a blog post Friday, adding that means it needs “to raise more capital than we’d imagined.”
The ChatGPT maker said it plans to restructure next year as a public benefit corporation (PBC) with ordinary shares of stock. The PBC will run and control OpenAI’s operations, while its non-profit arm will hire a leadership team and staff “to pursue charitable initiatives.”
The new structure will better “equip each arm to do its part,” it said.
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