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OpenAI Foundation

Funder
Founded Dec 2015 (10 years old)HQ: San Francisco, CAopenaifoundation.org
Structured Facts
Database Records
Founded Date
Dec 2015

Key People

5
AM
Anna Makanju
Head of AI for Civil Society and Philanthropy
2026 – present
Former VP of Global Impact at OpenAI. Joining mid-April 2026 per March 24, 2026 Foundation announcement.
JT
Jacob Trefethen
Head of Life Sciences and Curing Diseases
2026 – present
From Coefficient Giving, where he oversaw $500M+ in health and science grantmaking. Announced March 24, 2026.
RK
Robert Kaiden
Chief Financial Officer
2026 – present
Former senior roles at Deloitte, Twitter/X, and Inspirato. CFO of the OpenAI Foundation, announced March 24, 2026.
WZ
Head of AI Resilience
2026 – present
OpenAI co-founder transitioning to a Foundation-specific role. Announced March 24, 2026 as Head of AI Resilience at the OpenAI Foundation.
SA
Sam AltmanFounder
CEO & Co-Founder
2015 – present
Co-founded OpenAI in 2015. OpenAI Foundation formed October 2025. Per openai.com/our-structure.

All Facts

Financial

Equity Stake26%Oct 2025view →
Equity Value$130BOct 2025view →

Organization

CountryUnited Statesview →
Founded DateDec 2015view →
HeadquartersSan Francisco, CAview →
Parent OrganizationOpenAIview →

Background

Notable ForFour focus areas announced March 2026: (1) Life Sciences & Curing Diseases, (2) Jobs and Economic Impact, (3) AI Resilience, (4) Community Programs including People-First AI Fund.Mar 20268 pts
As OfValueLink
Mar 2026Four focus areas announced March 2026: (1) Life Sciences & Curing Diseases, (2) Jobs and Economic Impact, (3) AI Resilience, (4) Community Programs including People-First AI Fund.view →
Oct 2025Safety and Security Committee (SSC) is a committee of the Foundation, not the PBC. Chaired by Zico Kolter. Has authority to require mitigation measures including halting the release of models or AI systems.view →
Oct 2025Post-restructuring equity: Foundation 26%, Microsoft 27%, employees 26%, other investors ~21%. Sam Altman received no equity in the restructuring despite earlier reports of up to $10.5B.view →
OpenAI must remain headquartered in California per AG conditionview →
Holds a performance warrant for additional equity if OpenAI Group's valuation exceeds approximately $5 trillion by 2040. Exact additional equity amount not publicly specified.view →
Critics argue 26% financial stake is a dramatic reduction from 100% control under the old structure. Board overlap between Foundation and PBC raises questions about real independence. OpenAI dropped "safely" from its mission statement during the restructuring.view →
SSC Chair (Zico Kolter) serves as a non-voting observer at PBC board meetings. Kolter sits exclusively on the Foundation board, not the PBC board.view →
Non-independent directors (including Sam Altman) barred from PBC Audit & Risk, Compensation, and Nominating & Governance committees per California AG conditions.view →
Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAIview →

General

Websitehttps://openaifoundation.orgview →

Other

board-seats-controlledAll PBC board seats (sole appointment and removal authority)Oct 2025view →
grant-commitment1 billionMar 20262 pts
As OfValueLink
Mar 20261 billionview →
Oct 202525 billionview →
grants-disbursed40.5 millionDec 2025view →
key-eventWojciech Zaremba appointed Head of AI ResilienceMar 202624 pts
As OfValueLink
Mar 2026Wojciech Zaremba appointed Head of AI Resilienceview →
Mar 2026Foundation pledges $1B in grants; announces leadership team and four focus areasview →
Mar 2026Jacob Trefethen appointed Head of Life Sciences and Curing Diseasesview →
Mar 2026Anna Makanju appointed Head of AI for Civil Society and Philanthropy (joining mid-April 2026)view →
Mar 2026Robert Kaiden appointed CFO of the Foundationview →
Mar 2026Jeff Arnold appointed Director of Operationsview →
Mar 2026Executive Director still being recruitedview →
Dec 2025People-First AI Fund awards $40.5M to 208 nonprofitsview →
Dec 2025SoftBank completes $30B investment (contingent on restructuring)view →
Oct 2025Profit cap removed as part of PBC restructuringview →
Oct 2025Adam D'Angelo on Foundation board and Safety & Security Committeeview →
Oct 2025Bret Taylor serves as Chair of Foundation and PBC boardview →
Oct 2025Paul Nakasone on Foundation board and Safety & Security Committeeview →
Oct 2025Sue Desmond-Hellmann on Foundation boardview →
Oct 2025Adebayo Ogunlesi on Foundation boardview →
Oct 2025Restructuring completed; OpenAI, Inc. renamed to OpenAI Foundation; for-profit becomes OpenAI Group PBCview →
Oct 2025California and Delaware AGs issue conditions of non-objection for restructuringview →
Oct 2025Zico Kolter chairs Safety & Security Committee (Foundation board only)view →
Oct 2025Nicole Seligman on Foundation board and Safety & Security Committeeview →
May 2025OpenAI reverses: nonprofit will retain governance control of PBCview →
Mar 2025Judge denies Musk's injunction to block restructuringview →
Feb 2025Elon Musk-led consortium submits $97.4B bid to buy the nonprofit; unanimously rejectedview →
Dec 2024OpenAI announces plan to restructure into PBC; initial plan would have removed nonprofit governance controlview →
Jun 2024California AG investigation into OpenAI restructuring (ongoing since ~mid-2024, concluded Oct 2025)view →
litigationMusk v. OpenAI: jury trial scheduled April-May 2026Jan 20262 pts
As OfValueLink
Jan 2026Musk v. OpenAI: jury trial scheduled April-May 2026view →
Feb 2024Elon Musk files lawsuit against OpenAI alleging betrayal of nonprofit missionview →

Board Seats

7
MemberRoleAppointedSourceNotesSource check
Adam D'AngeloIndependent Director2025openai.comQuora CEO. Sole surviving pre-2023-crisis OpenAI board member. Serves as independent director on the OpenAI Foundation board.
Sue Desmond-HellmannIndependent Director2025openai.comFormer UCSF Chancellor and Gates Foundation CEO. Independent director on the OpenAI Foundation board.
Nicole SeligmanIndependent Director2025openai.comFormer Sony Corp general counsel. Independent director on the OpenAI Foundation board.
Adebayo OgunlesiIndependent Director2025openai.comGlobal Infrastructure Partners founder. Independent director on the OpenAI Foundation board.
Paul NakasoneIndependent Director2025openai.comRetired General, former NSA Director and US Cyber Command Commander. Independent director on the OpenAI Foundation board.
Bret TaylorBoard Chair2025openaifoundation.orgChair of the OpenAI Foundation board. Former Twitter board chair. Became OpenAI board chair in November 2023 after the Sam Altman reinstatement crisis. Foundation formally established October 28, 2025.
Zico KolterIndependent Director2025openai.comCMU machine learning professor. Chairs the Safety & Security Committee. Foundation-exclusive board member — serves on the Foundation board but not the PBC board.
Internal Metadata
ID: sid_GQuPhNkZbg
Stable ID: sid_GQuPhNkZbg
Wiki ID: E421
Type: organization
YAML Source: packages/factbase/data/fb-entities/openai-foundation.yaml
Facts: 47 structured (48 total)
Records: 12 in 2 collections