OpenAI's new structure aims to potentially make a more investor-friendly corporation while maintaining a mission of funding a related charity. Rivals including Anthropic have also adopted the PBC structure to balance societal interests along with shareholder value.

One of OpenAI’s co-founders, billionaire Elon Musk, has filed for an injunction to halt the company’s transition to a for-profit, accusing OpenAI of abandoning its original philanthropic mission. Musk has also alleged that OpenAI has deprived his own AI company, xAI, of capital by extracting promises from investors not to fund it.

OpenAI plans to transition from a non-profit to a for-profit company to address governance challenges and attract investment.

OpenAI on Friday laid out a plan to transition its for-profit arm into a Delaware public benefit corporation (PBC) to help it raise capital and stay ahead in the costly AI race against companies such as Google.

OpenAI is planning to convert its for-profit arm to a public benefit corporation in Delaware "with ordinary shares of stock."

OpenAI has laid out plans to become a for-profit company. In a blog post published on Friday, OpenAI’s board said it will replace the company’s existing structure with one that puts control into the hands of its for-profit arm.