OpenAI may be overhauling its complex nonprofit structure in favor of a traditional for-profit push in 2025, the key to a potential $150 billion valuation as the AI leader veers down a similar profit-seeking path to that of its Silicon Valley peers.
The news was first reported by Fortune, based on comments made by CEO Sam Altman in a weekly OpenAI employee meeting. Altman gave employees little detail, but reiterated that OpenAI was “set” to move away from non-profit control as it had “outgrown” its founding arrangement.
Currently, OpenAI operates as a “capped” for-profit LLC controlled by a non-profit. It was this structure that allowed OpenAI’s board of directors, part of the non-profit parent structure, to fire Altman as CEO in Nov. 2023. The board accused Altman of lying to and obstructing the work of the non-profit board and OpenAI’s safety measures, including omitting the nature of his ownership of the OpenAI startup fund. Altman was later reinstated and took leadership control of OpenAI’s revamped internal safety team.
Heading into the new year, Altman and OpenAI’s leadership are now navigating a growing, billion-dollar business. Last month, Apple was rumored to be investing in the AI startup, joining other big backers like Microsoft in what would inform the more than $100 billion valuation. According to a Reuters report from the same day as the Fortune story, anonymous sources said investors are making capital injections contingent on OpenAI abandoning its profit cap, which may require the non-profit controlling entity to be changed or abolished.
An OpenAI spokesperson told Fortune and Reuters that the company’s non-profit arm is “core to our mission and will continue to exist,” as OpenAI stays “focused on building AI that benefits everyone.”
