{"version":1,"tree":{"n":"html","c":[{"n":"head","x":"\n ","l":"\n ","c":[{"n":"title","x":"Desconocido","l":"\n \n "},{"n":"link","l":"\n","a":[["rel","stylesheet"],["type","text/css"],["href","../../stylesheet.css"]]},{"n":"link","l":"\n","a":[["rel","stylesheet"],["type","text/css"],["href","../../page_styles.css"]]}]},{"n":"body","a":[["class","calibre"]],"c":[{"n":"div","x":"| ","a":[["class","calibre_navbar"]],"c":[{"n":"a","x":"Siguiente","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["rel","articlenextlink"],["data-xQvX3JSyyUS4yAvbblzwf5","{\"name\": \"feed_12/article_3/index_u59.html\", \"frag\": \"\"}"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Menú de sección","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["data-xQvX3JSyyUS4yAvbblzwf5","{\"name\": \"feed_12/index_u18.html\", \"frag\": \"article_2\"}"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Menú principal","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["data-xQvX3JSyyUS4yAvbblzwf5","{\"name\": \"index_u63.html\", \"frag\": \"feed_12\"}"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Anterior","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["rel","articleprevlink"],["data-xQvX3JSyyUS4yAvbblzwf5","{\"name\": \"feed_12/article_1/index_u57.html\", \"frag\": \"\"}"]]},{"n":"hr","l":"\n","a":[["class","calibre6"]]}]},{"n":"div","a":[["class","calibre-nuked-tag-article"]],"c":[{"n":"div","x":"Board games","a":[["class","calibre8"]]},{"n":"h1","x":"OpenAI’s flip-flop will not get Elon Musk off its back","a":[["class","calibre9"]]},{"n":"div","x":"Sam Altman is in a bind over his company’s non-profit status","a":[["class","calibre19"]]},{"n":"p","x":"may. 08, 2025 01:50 | LOS ANGELES ","a":[["class","calibre10"]]},{"n":"div","a":[["class","calibre-nuked-tag-article"]],"c":[{"n":"img","a":[["src","images/img1_u49.jpg"],["title","Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, speaks during a news conference with the OpenAI logo on a screen behind him."],["class","calibre3"],["data-calibre-src","feed_12/article_2/images/img1_u49.jpg"]]}]},{"n":"div","a":[["class","calibre11"]]},{"n":"p","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"I","a":[["data-caps","initial"],["class","calibre13"]]},{"n":"span","x":"T WAS A","l":" timely win for Elon Musk. The world’s richest man, whose business empire has recently ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"a","x":"been dragged down","l":" by his penchant for far-right politics, has long pursued a vendetta against Sam Altman, boss of Open","a":[["href","https://www.economist.com/business/2025/03/23/musk-inc-is-under-serious-threat"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":". In recent months Mr Musk, who helped establish the artificial-intelligence (","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":") lab but left in 2018, has sought to block its proposed conversion into a for-profit company, deploying various methods including an unsolicited (and unsuccessful) $97bn bid for the assets of the non-profit entity that controls it.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Mr Musk was thus surely grinning when, on May 5th, Mr Altman announced that Open","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":" had abandoned the planned conversion. The ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"U","l":"-turn means a company valued at $300bn in its latest funding round will stay controlled by a non-profit board with a fuzzy mission to help “benefit all of humanity”. That could present big problems for Mr Altman.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Open","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":"’s structure will remain baffling. The company is made up of a for-profit entity—in which outside parties can invest, entitling them to a return up to a maximum value—nestled inside a non-profit entity. As previously planned, the for-profit entity will become a public-benefit corporation that seeks to serve both its shareholders and society at large; outside investors will receive stakes in the new company. But plans to unshackle it from the control of the non-profit and its board have been dropped.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Of most concern for Open","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":" is how this affects its ability to raise money. It is burning through significant amounts of cash as it invests to develop ever smarter models, and seems unlikely to turn a profit in the near future. When the company announced its previous plan to restructure in December, it cited its vast funding needs. “Investors want to back us but, at this scale of capital, need conventional equity and less structural bespokeness,” it said at the time.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Open","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":"’s non-profit board, which temporarily ousted Mr Altman in November 2023, is a particular concern for some investors. It has since been expanded and packed with people sympathetic to Mr Altman’s ambitions","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":".","l":" But it remains unclear how the board will balance his desire to rapidly develop ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AI ","l":"models as clever as humans with concerns over the safety of the technology.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Mr Altman has argued that, despite the ","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"U","l":"-turn, Open","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":" will still be able to secure the funding it needs. In particular, he has said that the $30bn promised by Softbank, a Japanese tech conglomerate, is still on the table. Microsoft, the biggest investor in Open","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":"’s for-profit entity, remains sanguine. But new investors may balk at pouring money into a company whose controlling board does not need to take their interests into account.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Meanwhile, ditching its previous plan will not spare Open","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":" from prying regulators. The company said that its about-face followed talks with civic leaders and the attorneys-general of Delaware, where Open","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":" is incorporated, and California, where it is based. The California Department of Justice said it was reviewing the new plan. Delaware found it encouraging. But as a non-profit entity, Open","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":" will continue to fall under their regulatory aegis. It can expect ongoing scrutiny.","a":[["class","calibre14"]]}]},{"n":"p","x":"Nor has Mr Altman succeeded in getting Mr Musk off his back. Shortly after the announcement of Open","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":"’s reversal, Marc Toberoff, Mr Musk’s lawyer, declared that it “changes nothing”, as the company’s founding mission to develop ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":" that benefits all of humanity “remains betrayed”. Mr Musk, who runs a rival lab, x","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":", intends to proceed with a lawsuit to block Open","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"AI","l":"’s restructuring. He will continue to be a thorn in Mr Altman’s side. ","a":[["class","calibre14"]]},{"n":"span","x":"■"}]},{"n":"p","a":[["class","calibre12"]],"c":[{"n":"i","x":"To stay on top of the biggest stories in business and technology, sign up to the ","a":[["class","calibre18"]],"c":[{"n":"a","x":"Bottom Line","l":", our weekly subscriber-only newsletter.","a":[["href","https://www.economist.com/newsletters/the-bottom-line"]]}]}]}]},{"n":"div","x":"\n","a":[["class","calibre_navbar"]],"c":[{"n":"hr","l":"\n","a":[["class","calibre6"]]},{"n":"p","x":"This article was downloaded by ","l":"\n","a":[["class","calibre16"]],"c":[{"n":"strong","x":"calibre","l":" from ","a":[["class","calibre13"]]},{"n":"a","x":"https://www.economist.com/business/2025/05/06/openais-flip-flop-will-not-get-elon-musk-off-its-back","a":[["href","https://www.economist.com/business/2025/05/06/openais-flip-flop-will-not-get-elon-musk-off-its-back"],["rel","calibre-downloaded-from"]]}]},{"n":"br","a":[["class","calibre-nuked-tag-article"]]},{"n":"br","l":" | ","a":[["class","calibre-nuked-tag-article"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Menú de sección","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["data-xQvX3JSyyUS4yAvbblzwf5","{\"name\": \"feed_12/index_u18.html\", \"frag\": \"article_2\"}"]]},{"n":"a","x":"Menú principal","l":" | ","a":[["href","javascript:void(0)"],["data-xQvX3JSyyUS4yAvbblzwf5","{\"name\": \"index_u63.html\", \"frag\": \"feed_12\"}"]]}]}]}]},"ns_map":["http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"]}