OpenAI’s move into the for-profit industry could include equity for Sam Altman

OpenAI describes its business structure as “a partnership between our original nonprofit and a new capped-profit arm,” which was one reason for the short-lived board coup against CEO Sam Altman last year and a recent lawsuit from co-founder Elon Musk. But that’s reportedly set to change with a massive new funding round that’s still being negotiated but could value the ChatGPT maker at more than $150 billion.

Now, Reuters cites unnamed sources saying part of the new plan involves giving Altman an unspecified stake for the first time. It says that in the new structure, OpenAI would operate as a for-profit company, like rival AI company Anthropic.

This company would “no longer be controlled by its nonprofit board” and would become more attractive to investors as the nonprofit retains a minority stake. However, for those concerned about OpenAI’s approach to safety over potential profits, this could be troubling as the company aims to create AI models capable of thinking.

When Altman returned as CEO last November, he mentioned “improving our governance structure” in his letter, and that appears to be taking shape as other executives leave. OpenAI CTO Mira Murati announced her resignation today. Reuters notes that President Greg Brockman was on leave and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever left the company earlier this year.