The OpenAI startup has a rather unusual organizational structure for companies trying to attract investor funds. The business is run by a non-profit organization with its own board of directors, and the for-profit division raises funds from shareholders but does not guarantee them a profit. Given the current scale of business, such a discrepancy scares off investors.
Image source: OpenAI
According to the Financial Times, OpenAI management is now discussing the possibility of transforming its own organizational structure in order to increase its attractiveness to investors. Since 2019, Microsoft has invested about $13 billion in OpenAI, and this only allows it to claim 49% of the startup’s profits, but in fact the key investor still cannot influence decisions made by the board of directors. High costs of business development do not allow investors to count on regular profits, and virtually all funds received from investors are legally registered by OpenAI as voluntary contributions to capital.
One of the ideas being discussed involves removing restrictions on the amount of profit received by OpenAI investors. Representatives of the company did not comment on these rumors, but explained that “the non-profit essence is the basis of our mission, and it will be preserved.” Participants in the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, emphasize that a transition to a more traditional investment scheme could attract more financial resources to the company’s business.