OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that the company has no plans to hit the stock market.
Altman’s statement came during an exclusive event held in Abu Dhabi, where edge was on ground.
“When we develop superintelligence, we are likely to make some decisions that most investors would look at very strangely,” he said.
He further expressed his lack of interest in taking OpenAI public, explaining, “I don’t want to be sued by the public market, Wall Street, etc., so no, not that interested.”
OpenAI, in its pursuit of expanding its computing capacity, has garnered an impressive sum of $10 billion from technology giant Microsoft, valuing the company at nearly $30 billion.
Notably, OpenAI has adopted a rather unique organisational structure, characterised by what Altman describes as a “very strange” cap to profit.
Originally established as a non-profit organisation, OpenAI subsequently transformed into a hybrid entity, combining elements of a capped-profit company. The structure enables OpenAI to secure external funding while ensuring that the original non-profit mission continues to reap the benefits.
During its initial years, OpenAI made a significant statement underscoring its firsthand experience that the most remarkable AI systems rely heavily on both algorithmic innovations and substantial computational power. This realisation led OpenAI to revise its scaling plans, opting for a considerably accelerated trajectory compared to its original intentions at the inception of the organisation.
“We’ll need to invest billions of dollars in upcoming years into large-scale cloud compute, attracting and retaining talented people, and building AI supercomputers.
“We want to increase our ability to raise capital while still serving our mission, and no pre-existing legal structure we know of strikes the right balance. Our solution is to create OpenAI LP as a hybrid of a for-profit and nonprofit—which we are calling a “capped-profit” company.”
According to the company, OpenAI LP revolves around a fundamental concept where investors and employees have the opportunity to receive a capped return if they achieve success in fulfilling OpenAI’s mission. This approach not only enables OpenAI to raise crucial investment capital but also serves as an incentive for attracting talented employees by offering them equity comparable to that of startup ventures.
“But any returns beyond that amount—and if we are successful, we expect to generate orders of magnitude more value than we’d owe to people who invest in or work at OpenAI LP—are owned by the original OpenAI Nonprofit entity,” the statement said.
Altman is currently embarking on a global tour, engaging in high-level discussions. The UAE is part of his tour and his travel itinerary includes upcoming stops in Qatar, India, and South Korea.
