By Alice Chambers |
OpenAI has reorganised its corporate structure, converting its for-profit subsidiary into a public benefit corporation (PBC). The company’s nonprofit arm, now renamed the OpenAI Foundation, will retain control of the for-profit division.
Microsoft holds an investment of approximately $135 billion, representing about 27 per cent of OpenAI Group PBC, and a 32.5 per cent stake in OpenAI’s for-profit business.
The new structure will help OpenAI get funding, hire skilled staff and prepare for a possible public listing.
As part of the revised deal, Microsoft will retain intellectual property rights to OpenAI’s models and products through 2032, including any systems developed after OpenAI declares the achievement of artificial general intelligence (AGI), which is the point at which an AI system with reaches human intelligence. An independent panel will now verify any AGI claims.
OpenAI has also committed to spending $250 billion on Microsoft Azure services, although Microsoft will no longer have a right to first refusal to serve as OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider.
The agreement allows Microsoft to develop AGI independently or with other partners, while maintaining a deep technological and financial partnership with OpenAI until at least 2032.