--- title: "OpenAI Forced to Abandon Plans to Become For-Profit" description: "Thanks in part to erstwhile cofounder Elon Musk's lawsuit, OpenAI won't be going entirely for-profit anytime soon." date: "2025-05-06" modified: "2025-05-06" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-abandons-for-profit" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "elon musk" - "OpenAI" - "sam altman" - "the digest" --- # OpenAI Forced to Abandon Plans to Become For-Profit ![Thanks in part to erstwhile cofounder Elon Musk's lawsuit, OpenAI won't be going entirely for-profit anytime soon.]() *\Image: John MacDougall / AFP via Getty / Futurism\* ## Money Matters OpenAI may be [raking in the investor dough](), but thanks in part to erstwhile cofounder Elon Musk, the company won't be going entirely for-profit anytime soon. In a [blog post]() this week, the Sam Altman-run company announced that it would remain under the control of its original non-profit governing board as it shifts its planned restructuring efforts of its for-profit arm. "Our for-profit LLC, which has been under the nonprofit since 2019, will transition to a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC)," the post reads, which is a "purpose-driven company structure that has to consider the interests of both shareholders and the mission." Though Musk was not named, that allusion to "the mission" — the building of artificial general intelligence (AGI) that "benefits all of humanity" — hearkens back to the [billionaire's lawsuit]() alleging that OpenAI strayed from said purpose when initially launching its for-profit arm in 2019 upon his exit. OpenAI claims in its post that it came to the decision to remain under the control of the non-profit board — the same one that fired Altman in late November 2023, only to reinstate him a few days later — "after hearing from civic leaders and engaging in constructive dialogue with the offices of the Attorney General of Delaware and the Attorney General of California." ## Mission Impossible Late last December, amid Musk's ongoing suit that was initially filed in March 2024, the company announced its plans to [restructure into a PBC]() that would help it "raise more capital than we’d imagined" while staying on-mission. That plan, [as *CNN* reports](), raised alarm bells about how OpenAI would balance raising gobs of money with its beneficial AGI mission. It seems that this latest move is its response — though according to Musk's attorney Marc Toberoff, the PBC announcement "changes nothing." "OpenAI’s announcement is a transparent dodge that fails to address the core issues: charitable assets have been and still will be transferred for the benefit of private persons," Toberoff said in a [statement provided to *Bloomberg*](). "The founding mission remains betrayed." In a rebuttal to the same outlet, an OpenAI insider hit back at Musk and his "baseless lawsuit," which "only proves that it was always a bad-faith attempt to slow us down." Accusations aside, this is still a pretty far cry from turning OpenAI into a bona fide for-profit venture — and regardless of what the company claims, Musk's [almost certainly jealousy-based]() lawsuit has played a role in making sure that doesn't happen. **More on OpenAI moves**: [*OpenAI Trying to Buy Chrome So It Can Ingest Your Entire Online Life to Train AI*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()