OpenAI CEO Says Company Could Become a For-Profit Corporation Like xAI, Anthropic

Wednesday The Information reported that OpenAI had doubled its annualized revenue - a measure of the previous month's revenue multiplied by 12 - in the last six months. It's now $3.4 billion (which is up from around $1 billion last summer, notes Engadget). And now an anonymous reader shares a new report from The Information:OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently told some shareholders that the artificial intelligence developer is considering changing its governance structure to a for-profit business that OpenAI's nonprofit board doesn't control, according to a person who heard the comments. One scenario Altman said the board is considering is a for-profit benefit corporation, which rivals such as Anthropic and xAI are using, this person said.Such a change could open the door to an eventual initial public offering of OpenAI, which currently sports a private valuation of $86 billion, and may give Altman an opportunity to take a stake in the fast-growing company, a move some investors have been pushing. More from Reuters:The restructuring discussions are fluid and Altman and his fellow directors could ultimately decide to take a different approach, The Information added.In response to Reuters' queries about the report, OpenAI said: "We remain focused on building AI that benefits everyone. The nonprofit is core to our mission and will continue to exist." Is that a classic non-denial denial? Note that the nonprofit's "continuing to exist" does not in any way preclude OpenAI from becoming a for-profit business - with a spin-off nonprofit, continuing to exist...

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