OpenAI Now Has a Foundation: Questions About Its Structure and Governance

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 OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Credit: jamesonwu1972/Shutterstock Backed by an initial $1 billion funding commitment from Sam Altman, Elon Musk and others, OpenAI launched in December 2015 as a nonprofit to “advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return.”

 Fast forward to late October 2025. After creating a “ capped-profit ” subsidiary in 2019, OpenAI has now restructured as a public benefit corporation (PBC) — a for-profit company with a commitment to making a positive impact on society and the environment, while — wait for it — generating financial return. The company adopted the new structure to attract investors without the worry that potential profits would be capped.

 Here’s how it works. The nonprofit that controlled OpenAI, now called the OpenAI Foundation , has a 26% equity stake , valued at $130 billion, in OpenAI Group PBC. The remaining equity is held by Microsoft (roughly 27%) and current and former employees and investors (47%). The arrangement makes the OpenAI Foundation “one of the best-resourced philanthropic organizations ever,” wrote OpenAI Board of Directors Chair Bret Taylor in an October 28 post announcing the change. Taylor went on to note that the foundation “will initially focus on a $25 billion commitment” across two areas: health and curing diseases, and technical solutions to AI resilience, “which is about maximizing AI’s benefits and minimizing its risks.”

 The charitable implications are obviously dizzying, with outlets noting that OpenAI Foundation’s $130 billion stake in the PBC eclipses the $86 billion held by the Gates Foundation , instantly making it one of the most well-funded charities in the world. Looking further out, if the company’s 2026 or 2027 IPO clocks in at $1 trillion, the stake would balloon to $260 billion. 

 So why are AI watchdogs and foundation leaders lambasting the restructuring? 

 First, they worry that OpenAI Foundation’s board members, eight of whom also sit on the PBC’s board, will prioritize the business interests of OpenAI Group PBC above the general public-serving interests of the foundation. Moreover, the foundation’s 26% stake “may represent humanity surrendering tens of hundreds of billions of dollars it was already entitled to,” said Tyler Johnston, executive director of AI watchdog The Midas Project , in a statement to IP. If the PBC becomes exceptionally successful, the “public will now have a far lower stake (and therefore control) of the technology,” since investors, and not the charitable foundation, will have a majority stake in the company.

 The Future Society Executive Director Nick Moës echoed this point. “This is a dark day for philanthropy, as it means that the public will actually benefit less from OpenAI’s im

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