OpenAI completes its restructuring and consolidates Microsoft as a majority shareholder

OpenAI announced this Tuesday that it has completed its restructuring and a new agreement with Microsoft which covers plans if artificial general intelligence (IAG) is achieved, a hypothetical AI system that surpasses the capabilities of the human brain and that, according to experts, could arrive in the next decade.

The startup indicated that its nonprofit is now called OpenAI Foundation, which owns an equity stake of approximately $130 billion in its for-profit division, making it one of the most well-resourced philanthropic organizations in history, according to the company.

“OpenAI’s mission is to ensure that the IAG benefits all humanity and will be driven through both the company and the Foundation. How much The more successful OpenAI is as a company, the greater the value of its shareholding.which the organization will use to finance its philanthropic work,” the company notes in its statement. Under the new structure, the OpenAI Foundation will have a 26% stake in the for-profit division, with 47% held by current and former employees and investors.

Microsoftwhich has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI and has supported the company since 2019, declared today that it supports the recapitalization of OpenAI and which now owns a public benefit corporation (CBP) valued at $135 billion, or approximately 27% of the company on a diluted basis after the conversion. Which translates to a reduction, since Microsoft previously held a 32.5% stake on a diluted and converted basis in the OpenAI for-profit organization.

The news comes after more than a year of OpenAI negotiations with the attorneys general of California and Delaware. If they had not approved the restructuring, OpenAI would not have been able to move forward. For his part, Elon Musk has sued both the company and its CEO, Sam Altman, to try to stop this conversion. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab.

Microsoft notes today that “once OpenAI declares IAG, that declaration will be verified by an independent panel of experts.” Besides, Microsoft notes that it does not lose rights to the technology: “Microsoft’s intellectual property rights, for both models and products, extend until 2032 and include post-IAG models, with appropriate security measures,” according to its statement.

However, the specialized media The Verge points out that it has not yet been completely resolved if the non-profit entity of OpenAI will retain control over its underlying technology, such as possible future development of the IAG. This artificial general intelligence It is not only the goal of OpenAI, but of all the companies involved in the race to become the dominant AI on the market.