OpenAI Wants to Go For-Profit. Experts Say Regulators Should Step In

In the latest development in an ongoing struggle over OpenAI's future direction--and potentially the future of artificial intelligence itself--dozens of prominent figures are urging the Attorneys General of California and Delaware to block OpenAI's controversial plan to convert from its unique nonprofit-controlled structure to a for-profit company. In a letter made public April 23, signatories including "AI Godfather" Geoffrey Hinton, Harvard legal professor Lawrence Lessig, and several former OpenAI researchers argue the move represents a fundamental betrayal of OpenAI's founding mission. "The proposed restructuring would eliminate essential safeguards, effectively handing control of, and profits from, what could be the most powerful technology ever created to a for-profit entity with legal duties to prioritize shareholder returns," the letter's authors write. It lands as OpenAI faces immense pressure from the other side: failing to implement the restructure by the end of the year could cost the company 20 billion and hamstring future fundraising. OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a non-profit, with its stated mission being to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) "benefits all of humanity" rather than advancing "the private gain of any person."