Artificial intelligence (AI) research company OpenAI is exploring the implementation of special voting rights for its non-profit board to safeguard against potential hostile takeover attempts in the future.
According to a report published by the Financial Times, the proposed rights would grant the board the authority to override major investors’ decisions, allowing OpenAI to retain certain powers after completing its transition to a for-profit structure. OpenAI was initially established as a non-profit organization but converted to a “capped-profit” model in 2019. It is currently undergoing restructuring to become a public benefit corporation.
Last week, a group of investors led by Elon Musk proposed acquiring OpenAI’s non-profit entity for $97.4 billion. Despite the unanimous rejection of the offer by OpenAI’s board, the incident has raised concerns about potential obstacles to the company’s restructuring plans.
OpenAI aims to separate its non-profit arm into an independent entity with its own staff and leadership, enabling the for-profit division to manage OpenAI’s operations and business activities independently. OpenAI’s investors have been promised that the conversion will be completed by the end of 2026.
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