OpenAI Restructuring Plan Must Require Payback of Assets’ Value to Independent Charity, Not Back to OpenAI Nonprofit
WASHINGTON, D.C. – OpenAI has confirmed its plan today to restructure itself in order to separate its for-profit business from the non-profit board overseeing its operations. Public Citizen has raised concerns with the California and Delaware attorneys general that Open AI was no longer functioning as a non-profit, and has urged that payments for OpenAI’s conversion to a for-profit must go to an independent, charitable enterprise, not to a remaining non-profit OpenAI.
In response to Open AI’s plan today, Public Citizen co-president Robert Weissman issued the following statement:
“If OpenAI is going to be permitted to spin off a for-profit business, it will be required to pay back the value of the nonprofit assets it is making private. Public Citizen has detailed to the attorneys general of California and Delaware that the nonprofit’s control premium alone is worth a minimum of $30 billion. And for-profit OpenAI should potentially be on the hook for much more, depending on non-public details of what exactly the nonprofit currently controls. This must be an amount determined by the attorneys general, not relying on financial advisors selected by OpenAI.
“As important as how much for-profit OpenAI must pay to become independent is the question of to whom it should make payment. To protect the interest of the nonprofit sector, the California and Delaware attorneys general must insist payment be made to an independent nonprofit – not to OpenAI Nonprofit. Public Citizen has made the detailed case for payment to an independent entity here.
“The OpenAI Nonprofit board has demonstrated conclusively that it is beyond redemption, unable to protect nonprofit interests. When the OpenAI Nonprofit board tried to assert is authority over for-profit forces inside OpenAI, the for-profit forces rallied and replaced the nonprofit board. Even today, with the announcement of the for-profit plan, the OpenAI Nonprofit board is unable to speak clearly about its nonprofit interests, as distinct from the for-profit arm’s interests.
“If OpenAI is going to be permitted to spin off a for-profit business, along with ensuring that OpenAI payments go to an independent charitable foundation or organization, we encourage the California and Delaware attorneys general to pay special attention to the issue of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). If for-profit OpenAI develops AGI technologies, it should be required to share them broadly, not maintain a monopoly over them.”