OpenAI is planning to restructure its business into a for-profit corporation and give CEO Sam Altman capital for the first time, maker ChatGPT confirmed on Wednesday.
The departure from its current not-for-profit model was revealed shortly after Altman’s top lieutenant Mira Murati abruptly announced her resignation as Chief Technology Officer — joining an exodus of executives in recent months.
Murat, 35, did not cite restructuring plans as the reason for her departure.
A restructuring of its core business would mean the San Francisco-based company would no longer be controlled by its nonprofit board of directors, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the decision.
Pivot aims to make OpenAI more attractive to outside investors.
In the meantime, the nonprofit will continue to operate and will acquire a minority ownership stake in the for-profit corporation.
The valuation of Altman’s stock was not immediately clear. The 38-year-old was worth at least $2 billion as of May, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
“We remain focused on building AI that benefits everyone and are working with our board to ensure we are best positioned to succeed in our mission. The non-profit organization is central to our mission and will continue to exist,” an OpenAI spokesperson said in a media statement.
The post was referred to OpenAI for comment.
OpenAI is reportedly pursuing a new $6.5 billion funding round that would value the company at $150 billion. The round, which has not yet closed, is being led by Thrive Capital, which has committed $1 billion.
Microsoft, Apple and Nvidia are also in talks to participate, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Murat had worked closely with Altman for nearly seven years at the Microsoft-backed firm. She served briefly as the company’s interim chief executive when he was forced out in a coup by former board members late last year.
“After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI,” Murati said in a message to staff that she shared on X. “There is never an ideal time to leave a place that one loves, but this moment feels right.”
Murati added that she was “leaving because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration. For now, my main focus is to do everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition while maintaining the momentum we’ve built.”
Altman posted a message thanking Mirat for her contribution to X.
“It’s hard to overstate how much Mira means to OpenAI, our mission, and to all of us personally,” Altman said. “I feel immense gratitude to her for what she has helped us build and achieve, but above all I feel personal gratitude to her for her support and love during all the difficult times.”
OpenAI “will mean more about transition plans soon,” Altman added.
Murat’s departure adds to the latest upheaval in the executive ranks at the pioneering AI company.
Co-founder Ilya Sutskever and principal researcher Jan Leike resigned in May after OpenAI disbanded its so-called “Superalignment” team, which was responsible for ensuring the safe development of advanced AI.
Greg Brockman, president and co-founder of OpenAI, said last month that he would be taking an extended leave of absence until the end of the year.
Another co-founder, John Schulman, jumped ship to take a position at OpenAI rival Anthropic.
OpenAI was originally founded as a non-profit research entity in 2015, though it later established a for-profit subsidiary in 2019.
The unusual structure was created to ensure the nonprofit could oversee OpenAI’s stated mission of creating safe general artificial intelligence — a term that refers to AI with human-level or higher cognitive abilities — that would benefited humanity.
Some current and former OpenAI employees have accused Altman and his allies of putting progress in AI development ahead of security considerations.
By postal wire
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