👉 Background: OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, was originally founded back in 2015 as a non-profit, with the goal to build AI that “benefits all of humanity”. But in 2019, it switched to a "capped profit" structure - which limited the  financial returns to investors and employees.

👉 What happened: Now, OpenAI’s board has announced that it is considering shifting to a fully for-profit corporate structure. Since this announcement, several executives have stepped down, including its Chief Technology Officer and Chief Research Officer.

👉 What else: There are now concerns that OpenAI is going to focus more on profit-maximisation and less on ethical AI. Good for investors (maybe?), but a bit of a concern for humanity.

What's the key learning?

💡When survival costs billions, mission statements often take a backseat to profits. The challenge for OpenAI is that AI supercomputers are super expensive to run.

💡OpenAI is believed to generating about $3.7 billion USD in annual sales, but it is spending more than $7 billion USD to just run the business. So the challenge for OpenAI is to raise money in order to continue operating and growing while its investors are seeking a profitable outcome.

💡OpenAI isn’t the first tech company to try to balance profit and humanity. Mozilla, which created the Firefox web browser, still blends a nonprofit foundation and research hub with their web-browser. But at OpenAI’s scale, it seems like their bold mission is being overshadowed by their goals for rapid growth.. And profit.