POLITICO Tech OpenAI reversed its restructuring plans. Critics aren’t cheering.
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May 8, 2025 Page Hedley, a former OpenAI employee and head of Not for Private Gain, discusses the company's recent decision to abandon its restructuring plans. Despite this move, he expresses skepticism about OpenAI's commitment to ethical AI development. The conversation dives into the implications of a hybrid nonprofit structure, potential legal challenges, and the broader accountability within the tech industry. Hedley emphasizes the need for vigilance to ensure AI technologies truly benefit humanity.
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Nonprofit Voting Control Limits
- OpenAI's nonprofit will hold voting control over the public benefit corporation but lacks economic control.
- This means the nonprofit's oversight may not effectively enforce the charitable mission above commercial interests.
Reduced Mission Obligations
- The public benefit corporation won't be legally bound to prioritize the charitable mission like the nonprofit is now.
- This structural shift weakens the safeguards that ensure OpenAI acts for humanity's benefit first.
Fiduciary Duties Differ Widely
- Even if the nonprofit has voting control, it cannot force the for-profit entity to act differently than its fiduciary duties require.
- The duties of a public benefit corporation differ greatly from those of a nonprofit charity.