The new Delaware-based PBC structure requires the company to consider societal benefits alongside shareholder value.
The existing nonprofit will maintain a “significant interest” in the PBC through shares, with the exact stake to be determined by independent financial advisers.
The restructuring comes as OpenAI seeks to raise additional capital for AI development. The company’s recent US$6.6 billion funding round at a US$157 billion valuation reportedly hinges on removing the current profit cap for investors.
“We once again need to raise more capital than we’d imagined. Investors want to back us but, at this scale of capital, need conventional equity and less structural bespokeness,” the Microsoft-backed company stated.
OpenAI began as a nonprofit in 2015 but created a for-profit unit in 2019 to fund increasing AI development costs.
The organization’s unusual structure drew attention during last year’s brief leadership crisis when CEO Sam Altman was fired and quickly reinstated.
This restructuring signals the mounting capital requirements for advanced AI development and could influence how other AI companies approach their corporate structures.
