TECH NEWS – Major changes are reportedly coming to OpeanAI, and the model of the company known for ChatGPT could be fundamentally altered.
Reuters reports that OpenAI will no longer be run by a non-profit board, as the organizational structure is changed to attract new investors. Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer, announced on Twitter that she is leaving the company after several years. Sources cited by the Financial Times late last month reported that OpenAI was considering removing the profit cap for investors. We’ve previously heard that Apple, for example, would invest in the company, and OpenAI stressed to the FT at the time that the non-profit division was “core” to its mission.
Reuters reports that as part of its efforts to attract investors, OpenAI is considering removing the non-profit board’s control over the for-profit unit. The board was at the center of a major upheaval at the company last year when CEO Sam Altman left, but returned after a major effort by one of OpenAI’s biggest partners, Microsoft. The non-profit arm will remain in place, with a minority stake in the for-profit company. The current governance structure is designed to ensure that OpenAI’s activities are consistent with policies that benefit society as a whole.
OpenAI said in a statement to Reuters that it will continue to focus on building AI that benefits everyone, and will work with its board of directors to successfully achieve its mission. The statement does not directly address how much impact the nonprofit sector will have on the for-profit sector. The change will result in Altman taking a stake in the latter, and with OpenAI estimated to be worth around $150 billion (making it one of the most valuable startups), Altman stands to make a huge amount of money.
Prior to Murati’s departure (reason: she wants to create her own time and space to realize her own discovery), OpenAI co-founder John Schulman left to join a competing company, Anthropic. Greg Brockman is also on leave until the end of the year. What’s next?
