OpenAI, known for its artificial intelligence developments and owner of ChatGPT, plans to change its status to a commercial entity. According to The Information, the company may become a Benefit Corporation («commercial public benefit corporation»). Sources report that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman discussed this with several shareholders.
Originally, OpenAI was established as a non-profit organization with the goal of advancing artificial intelligence for the benefit of all humanity. However, to attract investments and experts in the technology field, the company transitioned to a hybrid management model, combining non-profit and commercial elements.
A Benefit Corporation, or B Corporation, is a type of commercial organization that is obligated to pursue not only profit but also social and environmental goals. These companies have legal obligations to report their impact on society and the environment.
The main difference between OpenAI's current status and a Benefit Corporation is that OpenAI, as a hybrid organization, combines the characteristics of a non-profit organization with a social mission and a commercial company seeking growth and profit. In contrast, a Benefit Corporation is a fully commercial structure with additional social obligations.
Transitioning to the new status will allow the company to conduct an IPO, and the current board of directors of the hybrid organization will lose control over the company. Experts believe that OpenAI is seeking a balance to expand its business opportunities.
OpenAI's main product, ChatGPT, is a generative language model capable of engaging in conversations on various topics. The application not only allows for text messaging but also voice communication through recognition and speech synthesis functions.
Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT quickly gained recognition. The model can answer follow-up questions, acknowledge its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and decline inappropriate requests.
Today, ChatGPT can also process images, generate captions, classifications, and analyses. The model can handle texts of over 25,000 words, enabling it to create long-form content, conduct lengthy conversations, and analyze documents.
