Horwitz, Aprill & Loui: egal complications await if OpenAI tries to shake off control by the nonprofit that owns the rapidly growing tech company

Jill Horwitz (UCLA), Ellen P. Aprill (Loyola Law School Los Angeles), and Rose Chan Loui have written Legal complications await if OpenAI tries to shake off control by the nonprofit that owns the rapidly growing tech company for The Conversation. Here our the opening paragraphs:

OpenAI, the tech company that created the popular ChatGPT chatbot, is at a crossroads.

It began as a nonprofit dedicated to developing artificial intelligence systems smarter than humans. Since its founding, OpenAI has boasted that it was upholding its nonprofit goal – “to build artificial general intelligence (AGI) that is safe and benefits all of humanity.”

Now, its tune has changed. OpenAI’s leadership is reportedly taking steps to transform it into a for-profit company. If that happens, the nonprofit would lose control.

We are law professors who specialize in nonprofits. As we explained in an earlier article, all charities must devote their assets to their legal purposes. If OpenAI hoped to have a quickie divorce from its charitable obligations, it is now learning how costly that could be.

Lloyd Mayer