OpenAI Restructures as Public Benefit Corporation While Maintaining Nonprofit Oversight

OpenAI announced on May 5, 2025, that it will restructure as a public benefit corporation, allowing the nonprofit that has historically controlled the organization to remain its largest shareholder. This decision marks a reversal from previous plans to shift greater control to investors in order to attract more funding. OpenAI, co-founded by Sam Altman and others including Elon Musk in 2015, initially started as a nonprofit. In 2018, it added a for-profit entity to raise capital, though the nonprofit retained control. Recent internal plans aimed to transition control to investors, but facing criticism — including from Elon Musk — that OpenAI had strayed from its safety-first mission, the company has opted to keep nonprofit oversight intact. Sam Altman emphasized that this new structure provides a clearer framework for OpenAI’s goals. The nonprofit will choose the new corporation’s board members, and the stake it will hold is still under negotiation. Meanwhile, a major funding round led by SoftBank, valuing OpenAI at $300 billion, could be partially withdrawn if the restructuring isn’t completed by year’s end. The move reflects growing tensions between commercial interests and ethical concerns in the development of artificial intelligence.