After Years of Chasing Money, OpenAI Reportedly Giving Up on Being a “Nonprofit”

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ChatGPT maker OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit, only to change its mind four years later when it announced a shift to a “capped-profit” structure.

Following multiple billions of dollars in investment rounds, the Financial Times now reports that the company is exploring a full transition away from its nonprofit status.

Potential $100 Billion Valuation

The company is reportedly in talks to raise additional capital at a valuation exceeding $100 billion, which could place it among the most valuable Silicon Valley firms in history.

OpenAI has denied the report, stating to the FT that “the nonprofit is core to our mission and will continue to exist.” The company added: “We remain focused on building AI that benefits everyone and as we’ve previously shared we’re working with our board to ensure that we’re best positioned to succeed in our mission.”

No Cap

OpenAI co-founder Elon Musk, who left the organization in 2019, has repeatedly criticized the company for straying from its original nonprofit charter. Last month Musk filed a lawsuit alleging that OpenAI had abandoned its mission to “benefit humanity” through a $10 billion partnership with Microsoft. (An earlier, nearly identical lawsuit was withdrawn in June.)

“Either turning a nonprofit into a for-profit is legal and everyone should be doing it or it’s illegal and OpenAI is a house of cards,” Musk wrote on X last week.

Emails released by OpenAI during the first lawsuit indicated that Musk himself had once advocated for a for-profit model, raising questions about the timing of his current objections.

According to the FT, OpenAI has not yet reached a final decision. One option under consideration is lifting existing profit caps for investors, which would effectively end the capped-profit era.

The reported moves align with OpenAI’s rapid growth under CEO Sam Altman and its transformation into one of the most aggressively funded AI ventures in recent years. Despite the capped-profit framework, the company has continued to attract substantial investment while delivering limited visible public-benefit outcomes to date.

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