OpenAI’s nonprofit keeps control as startup pivots for more capital

May 06, 2025 09:56 AM

OpenAI has restructured its for-profit arm into a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), a move the company says will help secure long-term funding while keeping its nonprofit parent firmly in control.

The world’s most valuable startup has long been controlled by a nonprofit, but it’s been gradually pivoting to attract more capital, to fuel major initiatives vital to its growth, like custom chip products and infrastructure expansions, like the $500 billion Stargate Project.

With its long-awaited restructuring now public, OpenAI confirmed that its nonprofit arm will remain in control, retaining oversight and serving as the largest shareholder of the new Public Benefit Corporation.

“Our mission remains the same, and the PBC will have the same mission,” the company said in a statement.

Founded in 2015 as a nonprofit, OpenAI later sought outside funding to accelerate development, most notably through a multi-billion-dollar partnership with Microsoft, a move that led to Elon Musk’s departure over concerns about the shift in direction.

It has since become the world’s most valuable startup, raising the largest venture capital round in history last October with $6.6 billion from backers including Microsoft, Nvidia, and MGX.

To fuel its next-generation models and scale the business, OpenAI pushed for a restructuring amid concerns that the nonprofit’s control might constrain its commercial ambitions.

Several capital-intensive initiatives are in motion, from rumoured projects like custom silicon and AI-powered personal devices to more concrete efforts like the massive Stargate project, designed to boost the AI computing capacity in the US, and, according to recent reports, Europe too.

In a bid to ease concerns among employees about the structural shift, CEO Sam Altman reassured staff that the company’s core values remain intact, saying: “We believe this change enables us to raise capital while staying true to our mission and ensuring safety is at the heart of everything we do.”

“We want to be able to operate and get resources in such a way that we can make our services broadly available to all of humanity, which currently requires hundreds of billions of dollars and may eventually require trillions of dollars,” Altman said.

“We believe this is the best way for us to fulfil our mission and to get people to create massive benefits for each other with these new tools.”

The company said it retained the nonprofit’s controlling role after consultation with civic leaders and legal authorities, including the Attorneys General of Delaware and California, both of whom were engaged in the process to ensure the new structure aligns with OpenAI’s public-interest mission.

The result, according to the firm, is a governance model that preserves oversight while unlocking the scale of capital needed to pursue its long-term ambitions.

“We look forward to advancing the details of this plan in continued conversation with [civic leaders], Microsoft, and our newly appointed nonprofit commissioners,” Altman said.

OpenAI rivals Anthropic and Musk’s xAI are also structured as public benefit corporations, entities required to pursue a public good and operate responsibly, alongside delivering returns to shareholders.