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“Non-profits are also a large shareholder of PBC, providing non-profits with better resources to support many benefits,” says Openai’s blog post. “Our mission remains the same, and PBC has the same mission.”
Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a statement to Wired that, given her concerns, she is encouraged by Openai, allowing nonprofits to maintain control. “Now that the company has a new plan, I will review it for compliance with Delaware laws by ensuring it is consistent with Openai’s charitable purpose and ensuring that the nonprofit maintains proper control over the for-profit,” Jennings said.
Elissa Perez, a spokesman for the California Attorney General’s Office, said in a statement that her office is also reviewing the new plans.
Robert Weissman, co-president of public citizens who has defended large corporations and long criticised the open structure, says startup plans remain inadequate. He argues there appears to be no new restrictions to ensure for-profit organizations’ compliance with Openai’s non-profit mission of using powerful AI tools to benefit all humanity. “This leaves us where we are. This is a nonprofit organization that is said to control for-profit restraints, but is intended to not exercise any visible restraints for commercial purposes,” Weissman told Wired.
Openai’s plans require the new nonprofit to hold shares in the public benefits company. In the recent funding round, Openai has valuated $300 billion. So these stocks can be very advantageous as nonprofits sell or borrow them. California philanthropists are asking nonprofits to acquire the “fair value” of their stock, which could be the most funded foundation ever created. They also want nonprofits to be independent of the company, so the business interests do not corrupt charity. On Monday, activists updated their appeal to Bonta to closely consider whether the opening plan would achieve that separation.
Openai spokesman Steve Sharpe said the nonprofit has the right to appoint and remove board members from Public-Benefit Corporation. “I’ll move to A [public-benefit corporation] “PBC has a traditional capital structure that allows employees, investors and nonprofits to maintain their fairness directly,” he added.
“Openai is not a normal company and will never happen,” Altman wrote in an email to employees included in the company’s announcement.
Updated 5/5/25 7:35 ET: This story has been updated to include additional comments from Openai and the California Attorney General’s Office.