OpenAI and Microsoft are finally sorting out their epic squabble. One immediate result: The creation of one of the world’s richest charities.
OpenAI Chairman Bret Taylor announced some of the details of the startup’s new structure on Thursday. Its main nonprofit organization will control a new public benefit corporation that will house OpenAI’s for-profit operations.
The restructuring will make it easier for OpenAI to issue traditional equity to new investors, allowing the startup to raise the massive amount of money needed to pursue its ambitious plans.
The OpenAI nonprofit doesn’t just get control. It also gets an equity stake in the new business that is worth more than $100 billion, Taylor said.
“That figure would put the nonprofit among the richest philanthropic entities on the planet, rivaling the resources of long-established foundations,” Taylor wrote in a statement announcing the changes.
The Gates Foundation, backed by Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, is another giant charity that gets its funding from the tech industry.
Then there’s the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the charitable arm of the Danish drugmaker behind Ozempic. That charity has become incredibly well-funded as weight-loss drugs have boomed in recent years.
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In fact, when OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar discussed the startup’s new structure at a tech conference on Tuesday, she cited the Novo Nordic Foundation as an example of what OpenAI is trying to do.
Taylor also emphasized in the announcement that safety and community impact will remain core to the company’s governance. Regulators in California and Delaware are already engaged in shaping the oversight of this structure, reflecting the heightened scrutiny around AI’s societal role.
The nonprofit also announced a $50 million grant initiative on Thursday to support community organizations in three priority areas: AI literacy, local innovation, and economic opportunity.
“This is just the beginning,” Taylor wrote. “Our recapitalization would unlock the ability to do much more.”
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