The OpenAI company, led by Sam Altman, is in talks with the California attorney general’s office to change its corporate structure to become a for-profit company, Bloomberg News reported Monday, citing two people familiar with the matter.
OpenAI and a representative for the California attorney general did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The move to for-profit status would mark a dramatic shift in the governance structure of the AI pioneer, which was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit AI research lab. However, this change would make the company more attractive to investors.
Reuters first reported in September that Microsoft-backed OpenAI was working on a plan to restructure its core business into a for-profit company that would no longer be governed by its nonprofit board.
Nonprofit OpenAI will continue to exist and hold a minority stake in the for-profit company, sources told Reuters at the time.
Last month, the maker of ChatGPT closed a $6.6 billion funding round, which could value the company at $157 billion and cement its position as the world’s most valuable private company.
