Group Wants California AG to Investigate OpenAI’s Nonprofit Status

January 10, 2024

Public Citizen on Tuesday called on the California Attorney General Robert Bonta to investigate whether OpenAI should retain its non-profit status based on recent news reports that suggest tthe nonprofit may be acting under the control of its for-profit subsidiary affiliate or prioritizing profit over its nonprofit purpose.

In a letter to Bonta, Public Citizen reviewed recent events the group says suggests OpenAI is now acting with a for-profit purpose. The letter also addresses the potential value of the nonprofit.

“Close observers of the recent tumult at OpenAI tell a consistent story about why its CEO Sam Altman was dismissed and then brought back: for-profit interests defeated non-profit considerations,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen and author of the letter. “The publicly available facts raise profound questions about whether OpenAI’s non-profit operates independently and controls the for-profit, or whether the for-profit entity now controls the non-profit. If the for-profit exerts effective control over the non-profit, or if profit-seeking is now the controlling motive at OpenAI, then it follows that the non-profit must be dissolved.”

In the event of a nonprofit’s dissolution or conversion, California law requires distribution of its assets to another charity with the same or similar purposes.

Topics California

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