OpenAI
The San Francisco AI company behind ChatGPT, run since October 2025 as a public benefit corporation controlled by a nonprofit foundation.
What it is
OpenAI is an artificial intelligence company best known for ChatGPT, the chatbot that brought generative AI to the mainstream in late 2022. It also builds the GPT family of language models that power ChatGPT and many third-party apps.
How it is organized
OpenAI started in December 2015 as a nonprofit research lab. On October 28, 2025 it completed a recapitalization. The nonprofit was renamed the OpenAI Foundation, and the business became OpenAI Group PBC, a public benefit corporation. The Foundation holds special voting rights that let it appoint and replace the company’s board.
According to OpenAI’s announcement, Microsoft holds roughly 27% of OpenAI Group PBC on an as-converted diluted basis. These valuation and stake figures come from the company itself.
Why it matters to you
If you use ChatGPT, OpenAI’s settings decide what happens to your conversations. Our guide on how to make ChatGPT private walks through the controls, and what your employer can see explains how work accounts differ.
Timeline
OpenAI is announced as a nonprofit AI research lab.
OpenAI launches ChatGPT as a free research preview.
OpenAI completes its recapitalization: the nonprofit becomes the OpenAI Foundation and the for-profit becomes OpenAI Group PBC.
In the news
Sources
- Introducing OpenAI, OpenAI
- Introducing ChatGPT, OpenAI
- Built to benefit everyone, OpenAI
- Our structure, OpenAI
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