OpenAI’s history as a nonprofit research institute that also sells commercial products like ChatGPT may be coming to an end as the San Francisco company looks to more fully convert itself into a for-profit corporation accountable to shareholders.

OpenAI’s history as a nonprofit research institute that also sells commercial products like ChatGPT may be coming to an end as the San Francisco company looks to more fully convert itself into a for-profit corporation accountable to shareholders.

The company’s board is considering a decision that would change the company into a public benefit corporation, according to a source familiar with the discussions who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about them.

While OpenAI already has a for-profit division, where most of its staff works, it is controlled by a nonprofit board of directors whose mission is to help humanity. That would change if the company converts the core of its structure to a public benefit corporation, which is a type of corporate entity that is supposed to help society as well as turn a profit.

  • enkers@sh.itjust.works
    3·
    6 months ago

    Shocking. Absolutely shocking, I say. It’s almost like we’ve seen this exact pattern a hundred times before.

  • monotremata@lemmy.caEnglish
    2·
    5 months ago

    Capitalism is already a superintelligence, and its goals are misaligned with those of humanity.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
    1·
    6 months ago

    Member when the daily show (or was it Last Week Tonight) would show clips of Jared Kushner and have Gilbert Gottfried voice him?

    That’s what needs to happen for this bro.

    (RIP Gilbert)

  • BertramDitore@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    6 months ago

    This was so predictable. It seems they only care about profits now, and also positioning themselves to be a monopoly, so they really haven’t been compatible with the non-profit model for a while. Especially since they just raised more than $6 billion.

    It’s truly amazing to me that a “non-profit” that has disingenuously represented itself from day one, and is based almost entirely on the theft of intellectual property that would get normal individuals prosecuted out the ass, can continue to rake in absurd amounts of cash. I really dislike this company.

  • Beemo Dachboden@feddit.orgDeutsch
    1·
    6 months ago

    How can it be a thing to just make a non profit organization into a for profit organization?

    I thought non profits have benefits when it comes to taxation and regulations.
    Why can it be allowed that the new for profit organization can just reap the rewards from those benefits that it used to grow into what it is now?

    That seems to me like it should be plainly illegal.

  • orcrist@lemm.ee
    1·
    6 months ago

    Well yeah. They’re selling snake oil, and they better get as much money as they can now. That cash is going to dry up in a couple of years, and then where will they be. They’ll have to do real work again.