Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, has aligned himself with his rival, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. Following Musk’s legal actions to prevent OpenAI from converting to a for-profit corporation, Zuckerberg also urged the California Attorney General to block OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit entity. This move comes out of concern that OpenAI would dominate the market if it became a for-profit corporation.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 14th (local time), Zuckerberg sent a letter to Rob Bonta, the Attorney General of California, on the 12th, requesting to stop OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit organization.
In the letter, Zuckerberg stated, “OpenAI exploited its non-profit status to raise billions of dollars,” and now aims to change its status (through the transition to a for-profit corporation) to use the assets for private gain, an action that should not be allowed.
He further argued that completing the for-profit transition that OpenAI is currently pursuing would have a huge negative impact, akin to an earthquake, in Silicon Valley and that allowing OpenAI to become a for-profit entity would set a dangerous precedent where many startups would enjoy non-profit status until they are ready to generate revenue.
OpenAI countered by stating that it would maintain some non-profit components.
Brett Taylor, the Chairman of OpenAI, said, “Even after OpenAI’s conversion to a for-profit corporation, there will continue to be a non-profit entity within OpenAI,” and stated, “OpenAI will continue to maintain an improved non-profit segment that contributes to mankind with its AI capabilities.”