Openai fights to determine the price of Microsoft’s stake in agreement to become a profit company

The OPENAI Board of Directors is preoccupied with complex negotiations to become a profit company, struggling to determine the price of Microsoft’s stake in the start-up while keeping talks on the assessment of its newly formed charity branch at $ 30 billion.

The Chatgpt manufacturer, controlled by his non-profit administration, has been discussing the restructuring since September, which would divide the start-up into two parts. His charity branch, in charge of the original Openi Mission, “The Welcome of Humanity,” will receive a proportion in the newly formed corporation for public well-being (PBC).

One of the obstacles to the conversion was to determine how much capital of the biggest duties of start-up, Microsoft, to have in PBC, according to people who are familiar with negotiations. Other considerations, such as how much executive director Sam Altman will get in a new company, must also be resolved.

According to three people familiar with negotiations, a charity branch could be estimated at about $ 30 billion, but the final price has yet to be determined. Most of this value would be realized in the form of capital in PBC, one person added, while the rest would be paid in cash.

“This is a new phenomenon where non -profit organizations have stakes in profit organizations,” said Karla Dennis, the CEO of Tax Counseling KDA, who added that such transactions are more commonly paid in cash.

Restructuring will create “one of the non -profit organizations with the best resources in history”, according to the words Openii. But some, including Elona Musk, claim that the true value of non-profit organization is far higher, given the current control over the Openi, which was estimated at $ 157 billion.

The switching is designed to allow OPENAI to raise dozens of billions of dollars more than investors, which he considers start-ups essential for the development of top AI models in front of the rival. But it is also a great departure from the foundation of Openi as a non-profit organization and a very complex move for which there is a little legal precedent.

Openii agreed a two -year time limit for completion of conversion with investors as part of his last round of financing in September. If the change does not end up to the deadline, investors can regain a part of $ 6.6 billion they invested in the company.

Of the current stakeholders, Microsoft’s relationship with Openi is the most sensitive.

Determining how much capital of Microsoft can have without attracting antimonopolic attention is another key part of the stopping stopping into PBC, one person close to Openi said.

Openai and Microsoft refused to comment.

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that he would change the structure of his contract with OPENAI to allow the start-up to use competitive computer services in the cloud.

This move means that Microsoft will give up their position of exclusive Openi Openius provider in the cloud, but will retain the right of first-round. Microsoft said that several “key elements” of his partnership with Openi would remain in effect by the end of 2030, when their current contract is concluded, including arrangements for the division of revenue.

This move came after Openii announced this week that he is joining joint investment With Japanese softbank called Stargate, with plans to build at least $ 100 billion on AI Infrastructure in the United States.

The move to become a profit company has proven to be controversial in the Silicon Valley, as the battle of the opening of the OPENAI will affect the global race for the development and commercialization of generative artificial intelligence.

The proposed transaction led to the loud lawsuits of the male, the co-founder of the OPENAI, who has since established a rival group, XAI. Musk sought a prohibition of conversion, claiming that Openai cheated on the first donors, including him, who thought they were supporting the research group.

Openii was founded as a non -profit organization in 2015 in 2019. He developed a profit branch, which limited a refund for investors and gave a non -profit committee to complete control over a profit branch.

Currently, his financial future is associated with development such as the achievement of artificial general intelligence (AGI), a point where technology has similar levels of intelligence as humans. Clause that relate to agi They are printed from a new structure, previously reported by the Financial Times.

The complex corporate management of the company found himself under the magnifying glass in November 2023, when his non -profit committee dismissed Altman, that he would be returned to work shortly after.

People close to negotiations hope that the transaction will be completed this year, but they add that conversations are subject to change and that they will probably continue for a few more months.

The complexity of the price of such a new and powerful technology is another question.

This decision is made by the Board of Directors of the OPENAI, which includes Altman, former Salesforce chief Bret Taylor and former US Finance Minister Larry Summers. They owe their main duty to “humanity, not openai investors,” according to a charter of the start-up.

“There is an obvious conflict of interest in the committee when negotiating [the value of the non-profit]. Of course, the committee wants to pay as little cash as possible to justify as much as possible, ”said OPENAI’s former employee. “I’m not even sure that a true procedure could solve this conflict without any obligations.”

Kathleen Jennings, a state prosecutor in Delaware where Openi was founded, requested more information about the contract.

Jennings said her responsibility was to ensure that the conversion would be at a fair price and for public well -being. However, the Openi has not yet provided such details because they are still internally arranged with stakeholders.

“No real precedent for this,” said the person familiar with the discussions. “A research company that has become worth $ 157 billion.”

Additional report by Tabby Kinder and Stephen Morris of San Francisco