OpenAI was created as an open, nonprofit counterweight to corporate AI — then became a closed, capped-profit company whose founders sued each other over what it was supposed to be.
A nonprofit built as a public-interest counterweight became a closed, profit-seeking Microsoft partner — the opposite of what was promised.
Building safe AGI required capital and compute at a scale the nonprofit couldn't raise; the capped-profit structure, still governed by the nonprofit board, serves the same mission.
Co-founder and co-chair; became CEO in 2019 and drove the for-profit turn, the Microsoft partnership, and the productization (ChatGPT). Fired and reinstated by the board in 2023.
Co-founder, co-chair, and major early funder. Left the board in 2018; later became a leading critic and sued OpenAI, alleging it abandoned its founding nonprofit mission.
Co-founder and CTO; board chair. Removed as chair in the 2023 crisis, resigned in solidarity with Altman, and returned as president.
Co-founder and chief scientist. A board member who initially supported removing Altman in 2023, then publicly regretted it; left OpenAI in 2024 to start a new safety-focused lab.
Nonprofit board member (AI-governance researcher) who was part of the majority that voted to remove Altman in 2023, citing candor and safety concerns.
Microsoft CEO whose company invested billions and whose intervention in the 2023 crisis (offering to hire Altman and OpenAI staff) helped force Altman's reinstatement.
0 of 6 have put their version on the record.
OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit committed to safe AGI 'for the benefit of all humanity,' with an emphasis on openness. In 2019 it created a for-profit 'capped-profit' subsidiary and took major investment from Microsoft. It became far less 'open' about its models over time. Musk left in 2018 and later sued, alleging betrayal of the mission.
A nonprofit built as a public-interest counterweight became a closed, profit-seeking Microsoft partner — the opposite of what was promised.
Building safe AGI required capital and compute at a scale the nonprofit couldn't raise; the capped-profit structure, still governed by the nonprofit board, serves the same mission.
Unresolved: Whether the capped-profit structure honors or subverts the founding charter.
OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit committed to safe AGI 'for the benefit of all humanity,' with an emphasis on openness. In 2019 it created a for-profit 'capped-profit' subsidiary and took major investment from Microsoft. It became far less 'open' about its models over time. Musk left in 2018 and later sued, alleging betrayal of the mission.
A nonprofit built as a public-interest counterweight became a closed, profit-seeking Microsoft partner — the opposite of what was promised.
Building safe AGI required capital and compute at a scale the nonprofit couldn't raise; the capped-profit structure, still governed by the nonprofit board, serves the same mission.
Unresolved: Whether the capped-profit structure honors or subverts the founding charter.
OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit committed to safe AGI 'for the benefit of all humanity,' with an emphasis on openness. In 2019 it created a for-profit 'capped-profit' subsidiary and took major investment from Microsoft. It became far less 'open' about its models over time. Musk left in 2018 and later sued, alleging betrayal of the mission.
A nonprofit built as a public-interest counterweight became a closed, profit-seeking Microsoft partner — the opposite of what was promised.
Building safe AGI required capital and compute at a scale the nonprofit couldn't raise; the capped-profit structure, still governed by the nonprofit board, serves the same mission.
Unresolved: Whether the capped-profit structure honors or subverts the founding charter.
OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit committed to safe AGI 'for the benefit of all humanity,' with an emphasis on openness. In 2019 it created a for-profit 'capped-profit' subsidiary and took major investment from Microsoft. It became far less 'open' about its models over time. Musk left in 2018 and later sued, alleging betrayal of the mission.
A nonprofit built as a public-interest counterweight became a closed, profit-seeking Microsoft partner — the opposite of what was promised.
Building safe AGI required capital and compute at a scale the nonprofit couldn't raise; the capped-profit structure, still governed by the nonprofit board, serves the same mission.
Unresolved: Whether the capped-profit structure honors or subverts the founding charter.
ChatGPT is released and becomes a global phenomenon, transforming OpenAI from a research lab into a commercial powerhouse and intensifying the mission tension.
On Nov 17, 2023 the nonprofit board fired Altman, citing a lack of candor. Nearly all employees threatened to quit and Microsoft intervened. Altman returned within days and the board was reconstituted.
The board exercised its charter duty over concerns about Altman's candor and the mission; it was overridden by commercial and employee pressure.
The board acted without adequate justification or process; employees and Microsoft rejected it and forced a reversal.
Unresolved: The specific reasons for the firing, which were never fully disclosed.
OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit committed to safe AGI 'for the benefit of all humanity,' with an emphasis on openness. In 2019 it created a for-profit 'capped-profit' subsidiary and took major investment from Microsoft. It became far less 'open' about its models over time. Musk left in 2018 and later sued, alleging betrayal of the mission.
A nonprofit built as a public-interest counterweight became a closed, profit-seeking Microsoft partner — the opposite of what was promised.
Building safe AGI required capital and compute at a scale the nonprofit couldn't raise; the capped-profit structure, still governed by the nonprofit board, serves the same mission.
Unresolved: Whether the capped-profit structure honors or subverts the founding charter.
That OpenAI betrayed its founding purpose — a nonprofit committed to open, safe AGI for humanity — by becoming a closed, for-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft.
OpenAI countered that Musk himself had wanted a for-profit structure and majority control (or a Tesla merger), that the capped-profit turn was necessary to fund AGI research, and published emails to support that account.
CEO; briefly fired and reinstated in 2023; the dominant figure in AI.
Left in 2018; became a critic and litigant; founded rival xAI.
Chief scientist; part of the 2023 board action, then left to start a safety lab.
President; removed as chair in 2023, then returned.