OpenAi Plans To Become For-Profit Company, May Offer 7% Equity Stake To Sam Altman; Elon Musk Reacts

American artificial intelligence (AI) company, OpenAI is likely planning to give CEO Sam Altman a 7% equity stake, and mulling to become a for-profit business. On the buzz, the richest man in the world, Elon Musk has reacted, calling it "illegal'. This comes at a time when the AI company's CTO Mira Murati and two other senior management personnel resigned from the company.

People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that OpenAI is discussing giving Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman a 7% equity stake in the company and restructuring to become a for-profit business.

As per the report, OpenAI is mulling to become a public benefit corporation which would tasked with profit and also helping society, Bloomberg also cited that a spokesperson at OpenAI said, "focused on building AI that benefits everyone."

Following the news, world's richest billionaire Elon Musk said, "You can't just convert a non-profit into a for-profit. That is illegal." He quoted further, "Sam Altman is Little Finger."

OpenAI was founded by Sam Altman and Elon Musk along with others. However, Sam and Elon were the co-chairs, until the Tesla CEO left OpenAI in 2018. However, the bad blood between OpenAI, Sam Altman and Musk came into light in early 2024.

In February 2024, OpenAI and and CEO Sam Altman were sued by Elon Musk, who accused them of prioritizing profits over public good, contrary to OpenAI's original mission of developing AI for humanity's benefit. The lawsuit cited OpenAI's policy shift after partnering with Microsoft, questioning its open-source commitment and stirring the AI ethics-vs.-profit debate, as per Wikipedia.

Later in March, OpenAI stated that it was doing just fine without the SpaceX founder.

On Friday, OpenAI's chief technology officer Mira Murati announced her exit from the company through her X handler. Also, chief research officer Bob McGrew and another research leader Barret Zoph have resigned. Sam Altman reacted to their exit.

Mira Murati through her X handler said, "I am stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my exploration. From now on, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we've built."

She added, "I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to build and work alongside this remarkable team. Together, we've pushed the boundaries of scientific understanding in our quest to improve human well-being. At the same time, I may no longer be in the trenches with you. I will still be rooting for you all."

On her resignation, Sam Altman reacted by saying, "I replied with this. Mira, thank you for everything," adding, "It's hard to overstate how much Mira has meant to OpenAI, our mission, and to us all personally."

He further said, "I feel tremendous gratitude towards her for what she has helped us build and accomplish, but I most of all feel personal gratitude towards her for the support and love during all the hard times. I am excited for what she'll do next."

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company. The company's mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.