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tencent technology news, september 26, according to foreign media reports, according to people familiar with the matter, artificial intelligence startup openai is planning a major transformation of its corporate structure and plans to reorganize its core business into a for-profit welfare company to get rid of the direct management of the existing non-profit board of directors. this move will make the company more attractive to investors.

people familiar with the matter said that openai's non-profit status will be retained and it will hold a small stake in the newly established for-profit company. this move may have a profound impact on the company's control and management strategy for artificial intelligence risks under the new governance structure.

particularly notable is that openai ceo sam altman is expected to receive equity in a for-profit company for the first time after the reorganization, with a potential valuation of $150 billion. at the same time, openai is considering relaxing restrictions on investor returns.

despite the impending changes, an openai spokesperson stressed: "we remain committed to building artificial intelligence technology that benefits all humanity. we are working with the board to ensure that the transformation path leads us more steadily to the success of our mission. the nonprofit organization is at the core of our mission and will continue to exist."

the details of the proposed corporate restructuring reveal that the top artificial intelligence company is undergoing a major change in its behind-the-scenes governance model. according to people familiar with the matter, the restructuring plan is currently in close consultation with legal advisers and shareholders, and the specific completion timetable is still uncertain.

the reorganization comes amid a leadership shakeup at openai. on wednesday, longtime openai chief technology officer mira murati abruptly announced she was leaving the company, while president greg brockman also took a leave of absence, adding some uncertainty to the company's future.

since its establishment in 2015, openai has been active in the industry as a non-profit artificial intelligence research institution. in 2019, it established a for-profit subsidiary and successfully obtained financial support from microsoft to promote the in-depth development of its research.

at the end of 2022, openai made a global sensation with the emergence of chatgpt. this generative ai application, with its ability to accurately respond to human queries, quickly became one of the fastest-growing applications in history, with weekly active users exceeding 200 million, which not only reshaped the industry landscape, but also set off a wave of ai investment around the world.

with the huge success of chatgpt, openai's valuation has achieved a qualitative leap, soaring from us$14 billion in 2021 to us$150 billion, attracting the favor of many heavyweight investors including thrive capital and apple.

openai has adopted a unique organizational structure from the beginning, giving full control of its for-profit subsidiaries to a nonprofit organization. this arrangement is intended to advance the grand mission of "creating safe and broadly beneficial general artificial intelligence (agi), that is, pursuing intelligent systems that can match or even surpass human intelligence.

however, in november last year, openai experienced a dramatic change. the non-profit board of directors decided to remove ceo altman on the grounds of poor communication and lack of trust. but this decision quickly triggered a strong backlash from employees and investors. only five days later, altman returned to his leadership position.

after this incident, openai's board of directors was adjusted to include more senior executives from the technology industry, including the current chairman of the board, bret taylor, who served as co-ceo of salesforce and successfully ran his own artificial intelligence startup. under the current governance structure, any major decision of openai must be approved by the nine-member non-profit board of directors.

if openai removes its nonprofit controls, it may move closer to the operating model of a traditional startup, a shift that will undoubtedly be widely welcomed by investors who have already invested heavily in the company. however, this change has also touched a sensitive nerve in the field of artificial intelligence safety, causing the community to worry about whether openai can still maintain sufficient self-discipline and responsibility in the pursuit of agi. this concern is even more urgent considering that the company disbanded its super alignment team focused on the long-term risks of artificial intelligence earlier this year.

it is still unknown what percentage of equity altman will receive. it is worth noting that altman has accumulated billions of wealth through investing in start-ups, and he has previously made it clear that he will not hold shares in openai because he believes that the board of directors should be composed of directors who do not hold shares and can maintain an objective and neutral position. in addition, altman claims that he has enough money and does this purely because he likes this job. (compiled by jinlu)