In an effort to make artificial intelligence (AI) benefits available to everyone, OpenAI announced it will transition its current for-profit arm into a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). This approach follows the structures of similar safety-minded AI firms such as Anthropic. The change is intended to simplify OpenAI’s structure and allow it to raise more funds as it continues its mission-driven governance of ensuring that AI systems benefit all of humanity. It would also be eligible to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) in the future with this change.

Microsoft holds a 49 percent share in OpenAI, which means that any change to corporate structure will impact how much stock Microsoft holds in the future, as well as the previously agreed-upon timeline for its access to new technologies, which currently expires in 2030. As a result, the two companies are now in negotiations, according to the Financial Times, to change the terms of the $1 billion investment Microsoft made in 2019. The Times reports that, in exchange for a portion of its equity investment, Microsoft would gain access to new technologies created beyond the initial 2030 agreement.