OpenAI has confirmed its intention to become a for-profit company in 2025. The objective is to attract investors to develop the artificial general intelligence (AGI). That is, AI that reasons like a human, and can master any topic. Ironically, like its competition, “operará por el bien de la humanidad”.
OpenAI was born in 2015 as a non-profit company. It was all good intentions, since their goal was to develop open source artificial intelligence that would not endanger humanity. But the business was too lucrative not to profit from it.
Elon Musk, then a member of the board of directors, I wanted to turn OpenAI into a for-profit company. (just what he is now trying to stop), but since they did not listen to him or make him CEO as he requested, he left.
This is how OpenAI became a for-profit company
Sam Altman tried the same thing, and they kicked him out, but he only remained in exile for a few days. He returned converted into the great Messiah who would save the company, and in the process humanity, with his proposals for Universal Basic Income.
In the end, Sam Altman he has gotten away with it. To achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI) you need a mountain of money, and that breaks the rules of a non-profit company. So OpenAI has announced that In 2025 it will become a PBC, that is, a Public Utility Corporation.
A PBC is a for-profit company that operates for the benefit of humanity. Ironic, because AI will destroy millions of human jobs and will cause AI companies to breach their environmental commitments. Although it is also true that it will provide many benefits. xAI and Anthropic also operate under this advertising slogan… sorry under the term PBC.
Until now OpenAI was a non-profit company, with a commercial branch, which is what did business, with limitations. In 2025 OpenAI will reverse the scheme: The commercial management will take control, and the non-profit branch will have a lesser role, although it will continue to exist.
“La división comercial dirigirá y controlará las operaciones y el negocio de OpenAI”the statement states, while the non-profit organization OpenAI “llevará a cabo iniciativas benéficas en sectores como la sanidad, la educación y la ciencia”. This will force the current OpenAI board to resign or change positions.
With this change in its business structure, now converted into a for-profit company, OpenAI will have free rein to attract new investors… unless justice prevents it from doing so. Both Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have denounced OpenAI for understanding that this change goes against OpenAI’s founding model. 2025 is going to be an interesting year…
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Tags: Artificial intelligence, Industry
