OpenAI has completed a major corporate recapitalization and simultaneously unveiled the next chapter of its strategic partnership with Microsoft. These dual announcements signal a new phase of growth and governance for one of the world's most influential AI companies.

Here’s a breakdown of the key developments.

OpenAI’s New Corporate Structure: Mission Remains Central

OpenAI has simplified its corporate structure to solidify its original mission—ensuring artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity. The key changes are:

1. Nonprofit in Control: The controlling entity is now the OpenAI Foundation, the nonprofit that holds the mission. It controls the for-profit business.
2. For-Profit as a PBC: The operational business is now a public benefit corporation (PBC) called OpenAI Group PBC, legally aligning its commercial goals with its public-minded mission.
3. Substantial Funding for Philanthropy: The OpenAI Foundation’s equity stake in the for-profit is valued at approximately $130 billion, creating one of the world's best-resourced philanthropic organizations. This wealth will be directed toward two initial focus areas:
4. Health & Disease Curing: Funding for open-sourced health datasets and scientific research to accelerate medical breakthroughs.
5. AI Resilience: Developing practical technical solutions to maximize AI's benefits and minimize its risks, akin to a cybersecurity layer for AI.

This restructuring was completed after discussions with the Attorneys General of California and Delaware, ensuring strong, mission-focused governance.

The Evolved Microsoft-OpenAI Partnership

Alongside the recapitalization, OpenAI and Microsoft have signed a new definitive agreement that refines their long-standing partnership. The core of the partnership remains—OpenAI is still Microsoft’s frontier model partner, and Microsoft retains exclusive IP and Azure API rights until AGI is achieved.

However, several key terms have evolved to provide more flexibility for both companies:

AGI Declaration: An independent expert panel will now verify OpenAI's declaration of AGI.

Microsoft's IP Rights: Microsoft’s intellectual property rights are extended through 2032 and now include models developed post-AGI. Its rights to underlying "research" IP will continue until AGI or 2030, whichever comes first. To read more click

What This Means

Together, these updates position OpenAI for its next stage of growth with a simplified, mission-driven structure and a more mature, flexible partnership with Microsoft. This provides a clearer path for OpenAI to advance AI development while building a massive philanthropic arm to fund global benefits.