NEW YORK — OpenAI has dialed back a significant restructuring plan, with its nonprofit parent retaining control in a move that is likely to limit CEO Sam Altman’s power over the pioneering maker of ChatGPT.
The announcement follows a storm of criticism and legal challenges, including a high-profile lawsuit filed by rival and co-founder Elon Musk, who has accused OpenAI of straying from its founding mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.
“OpenAI was founded as a non-profit, is today a non-profit that oversees and controls the for-profit, and going forward will remain a non-profit that oversees and controls the for-profit. That will not change,” Altman said in a blog post according to Reuters.
OpenAI had outlined plans in December to convert its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation, a structure designed to balance shareholder returns with social goals, unlike nonprofits, which are solely focused on public good.
Under that proposal, the nonprofit parent would have been a big shareholder in the PBC but would cede control over the startup.
OpenAI said the nonprofit parent would continue to control the PBC and become a big shareholder in it.
The company will push ahead with plans to change the structure of its for-profit arm to allow more capital-raising to keep pace in the AI race.
The move to an outright for-profit was intended to help OpenAI raise more capital and ease restrictions tied to its nonprofit parent.
But it sparked concerns over whether the company would fairly allocate assets to the nonprofit and how it would balance profit-making with its mission to develop AI for the public good.
“We made the decision for the nonprofit to stay in control after hearing from civic leaders and having discussions with the offices of the Attorneys General of California and Delaware,” Bret Taylor, chairman of OpenAI’s board, said in a blog post.
