OpenAI reaches new agreement with Microsoft to change its corporate structure

Core Viewpoint - OpenAI has reached a tentative agreement with Microsoft, granting its nonprofit a $100 billion equity stake in its for-profit subsidiary, amidst scrutiny from regulators and concerns about the implications of artificial intelligence [1][2]. Group 1: Partnership and Financial Structure - OpenAI's nonprofit, founded in 2015, continues to control the for-profit subsidiary that develops and sells AI products, though it is unclear if the $100 billion equity stake represents a controlling interest [2]. - Microsoft initially invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019, leading to an agreement where Microsoft became the exclusive provider of computing power for OpenAI's technology [4]. - The partnership has evolved, with OpenAI now building its own computing capacity primarily for research and model training, coinciding with a new partnership with Oracle for a data center in Texas [5]. Group 2: Regulatory Scrutiny - California Attorney General Rob Bonta is investigating OpenAI's proposed restructuring, expressing concerns about the safety of ChatGPT and the nonprofit's mission [2][3]. - Bonta emphasized the importance of maintaining OpenAI's stated safety mission as a nonprofit during discussions with the company's legal team [3]. Group 3: Future Developments - OpenAI and Microsoft are still finalizing contractual terms in a definitive agreement, indicating that some aspects of their partnership remain unresolved [6]. - OpenAI's nonprofit board, which includes a former U.S. Treasury secretary, is tasked with determining when its AI systems achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI) [7].