Microsoft-backed OpenAI is working on a plan to restructure its core business into a for-profit benefit corporation that its non-profit board will no longer control, Reuters reported, a move which has rubbed Elon Musk the wrong way.
Musk, who was among the founders of the artificial intelligence (AI) startup in 2015, took to X, to say, “You can’t just convert a non-profit into a for-profit. That is illegal,” after a user questioned OpenAI’s move.
As part of this restructuring, Sam Altman, the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) is set to receive equity for the first time in the for-profit company, which could be worth $150 billion after the restructuring as it also tries to remove the cap on returns for investors.
Musk has been active on X since the report was released, mocking Altman and calling him “the little finger”, a comment on three senior executives leaving the company.
This comes months after Musk sued OpenAI, alleging that the organisation breached contractual agreements established when he co-founded the ChatGPT maker.
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The lawsuit claimed that Altman, along with cofounder Greg Brockman, initially approached Musk with the idea of creating an open-source, non-profit organisation dedicated to developing AI technology for the “benefit of humanity”,He ultimately dismiss the lawsuit, without giving a reason for the move, according to a filing in San Francisco Superior Court. In August, however, the Tesla CEO revived a lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman stating that the firm put profits and commercial interests ahead of the public good.
Sources have told Reuters that despite the changes, OpenAI non-profit will continue to exist and will own a minority stake in the for-profit company.
“We remain focused on building AI that benefits everyone, and we’re working with our board to ensure that we’re best positioned to succeed in our mission. The non-profit is core to our mission and will continue to exist,” an OpenAI spokesperson said.
Mira Murati to leave
Mira Murati, chief technology officer of the company, announced her departure on Thursday from the startup in a post on X. Her exit marks the latest in a series of executive departures this year.
“I’m stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration,” Murati wrote in the X post.
— miramurati (@miramurati)
Murati has been with the ChatGPT maker for six and a half years and briefly took the role of CEO when in November the board made the unexpected decision to temporarily oust and then reinstate cofounder Altman.
In August, OpenAI cofounder John Schulman announced on X that he had joined rival AI company Anthropic. Meanwhile, another cofounder, Greg Brockman, stated on X that he would be taking a sabbatical until the end of the year. Additionally, a third cofounder, chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, departed from OpenAI and started his own AI company named Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), just one month after leaving the company.
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