OpenAI secures Microsoft’s blessing to transition its for-profit arm

Openai announced on Thursday that it had reached an inconsistent agreement with Microsoft, its largest investor, in a revised partnership that would allow the start of operation to convert its profit arm into a general interest company (PBC).

The transition, in the event of its cleansing by government organizers, can allow Openai to raise additional capital from investors, and in the end it becomes a public company.

In a blog publication, the Chairman of the Openai Board of Directors, Brett Taylor, said under the unaolized agreement with Microsoft, which will continue to continue in Openai in existence and retain control of startups. Taylor said that the non -profit from Openai will get a company in PBC for the company, at a value of $ 100 billion. Other conditions of the deal have not been revealed.

The companies said in a joint statement: “Microsoft and Openai signed a non -obligatory memorandum (MO) for the next stage of our partnership.” Mous is not legally binding but aims to document the expectations and intentions of each party.

The joint statement added: “We are actively working on the completion of the contractual conditions in a final agreement.”

Development appears to be the end of months of negotiations between Openai and Microsoft due to the Transgpt Maker plans. Unlike most startups, Openai is controlled by a non -profit panel. The unusual structure allowed the members of the Openai Board of Directors to shoot Sam Altman, CEO in 2023. Reinforcement was returned a few days later, and many members of the Board of Directors resigned. However, the structure of the governance itself is still in place today.

Under their current deal, Microsoft is supposed to get preferred access to Openai technology and to be the main provider of cloud services for startups. However, ChatGPT is a much larger work than it was when Microsoft first invested in the start of operation in 2019, and according to what Openai sought to reduce the domination of the cloud provider as part of these negotiations.

Last year, Openai concluded a series of deals that would allow them to be less dependent on Microsoft. Openai recently signed a $ 300 billion spending contract with the Oracle cloud provider over the period of five years starting in 2027, according to the Wall Street Journal. Openaii has also made a partnership with the Japanese Softbank collection in its Cight Data Center project.

Taylor says that Openai and Microsoft “will continue to work with California and Delaware General” in the transfer plan, which means that the deal still needs a character from the organizers before it enters into effect.

California representatives and Dilayer’s general lawyer did not immediately respond to the Techcrunch request for comment.

It was reported that the tensions between Openai and Microsoft around these negotiations have reached a boiling point in recent months. The Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft wanted to control the technology owned by Windsurf, AI Coding Startup, which was planned for Openai to gain earlier this year, while the Openai to keep the IP for Startup independently. However, the deal decreased, the Windsurf founders were appointed by Google, and the rest of its employees were obtained by another emerging, perception.

In a lawsuit against Elon Musk against Openai-which is accused in essence, Greg Brookman, and the company of abandoning its non-profit mission-is the transfer of the start of profitability also a major flash point. Lawyers who represent Musk in the lawsuit have tried to highlight the information related to Microsoft and Openai negotiations on the transition.

Musk also made an unwanted offer of $ 97 billion to Openai earlier this year, which was refused by the start -up council immediately. However, legal experts noticed at the time that the Musk offer has raised the non -profit Openai’s share price.

It is worth noting that a non -profit share in Openai PBC, according to this agreement, is greater than Musk.

In recent months, non -profit organizations such as Encode and Midas Project have been subjected to the transfer of OpenAi to profit, arguing that it threatens to start operating task with the development of AGI that benefits humanity. Openai responded by sending call notes to some of these groups, claiming that non -profit organizations are funded by their competitors – meaning MASK and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Checks and the Midas project denies claims.