A group of AI experts and former OpenAI staff are asking California and Delaware attorneys general to block OpenAI's restructuring into a for-profit business. Prominent figures, including Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton, argue that the development of AGI should serve the public interest rather than corporate profit. They warn that converting OpenAI's non-profit arm into a public benefit corporation could undermine governance safeguards meant to prioritize charity over financial gain. Their letter aims to convince state regulators to intervene to maintain the organization's original mission.
OpenAI has a bespoke legal structure based on nonprofit control. This structure is designed to harness market forces without allowing those forces to overwhelm its charitable purpose.
The development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) is too important to leave up to a private company with a profit motive, and must be preserved for the public interest instead.
As the primary regulators of OpenAI, you currently have the power to protect OpenAI's charitable purpose on behalf of its beneficiaries, safeguarding the public interest.
This plan to convert OpenAI's for-profit arm into a PBC would dismantle the governance safeguards that once set OpenAI apart, like capped investor returns and an independent board.
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