Lily Jamali<\/span>North America Technology Correspondent, San Francisco<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n OpenAI has completed its conversion to a for-profit entity, a move that could allow it to raise billions of dollars in investment and potentially clear the way for a stock market debut.<\/p>\n As part of the arrangement, OpenAI and Microsoft announced changes to their partnership that leave the tech giant with a 27% stake in the ChatGPT-maker.<\/p>\n The deal changes the relationship between the two companies, which first partnered in 2019, when OpenAI was a non-profit artificial intelligence (AI) research organisation.<\/p>\n Under the terms, Microsoft can now pursue artificial general intelligence – sometimes defined as AI that surpasses human intelligence – on its own or with other parties, the companies said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n OpenAI also said it was convening an expert panel that will verify any declaration by the company that it has achieved artificial general intelligence.<\/p>\n The company did not share who would serve on the panel when approached by the BBC.<\/p>\n Microsoft will also support OpenAI’s board with the conversion to a for-profit entity, which the company has confirmed boss Sam Altman will not hold an equity stake in, as first reported by Bloomberg. <\/p>\n The original partnership between the companies gave Microsoft rights to much of what OpenAI produced at a time when the startup was hungry for cloud computing resources.<\/p>\n OpenAI has since gone on a deal spree with a host of other major tech players leading to speculation that an AI bubble<\/a> may be in the offing.<\/p>\n The revised deal extends Microsoft’s rights to OpenAI’s AI models through to 2032 but excludes consumer hardware.<\/p>\n Microsoft\u2019s market cap crossed the $4tn mark on Tuesday for the second time ever after the announcement. <\/p>\n It first reached that milestone in July, following chip designer Nvidia to become just the second publicly-traded company to do so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n OpenAI brought AI to the mainstream user in 2022 with the introduction of ChatGPT.<\/p>\n At the company’s DevDay event in San Francisco earlier this month, Mr Altman said the company had reached 800mn weekly active users.<\/p>\n OpenAI – now valued at $500bn – has released a slew of new products aimed at increasing engagement with its AI tools.<\/p>\n These include the AI-powered browser ChatGPT Atlas<\/a>, which competes with Google Chrome, and a video generation tool called Sora.<\/p>\n But the company also routinely finds itself at the centre of controversy.<\/p>\n Last week, OpenAI blocked<\/a> Sora 2 from creating deepfake videos portraying Dr Martin Luther King Jr after intervention from the late civil rights leader’s family.<\/p>\n OpenAI also recently said ChatGPT would soon start allowing erotica<\/a> for verified adults.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, critics say OpenAI has downplayed<\/a> the potential mental health implications of its AI tools which they charge are being built with few guardrails in the pursuit of profits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Reuters](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8617\/live\/cef57eb0-b41a-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.jpg.webp\")
Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nOpenAI’s trajectory<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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