ChatGPT's 'father' seeks IPO

OpenAI and Microsoft are reportedly in talks to prepare for an IPO of the company behind ChatGPT. Photo: Financial Times .

OpenAI and Microsoft are rewriting the terms of a multibillion-dollar partnership, the Financial Times reports. The talks are described as “fraught,” with the aim of helping the maker of ChatGPT launch a future initial public offering (IPO) while also protecting Microsoft’s access to its advanced artificial intelligence models.

Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor, is among those hesitant to restructure the startup’s $260 billion business, fearing it would distance OpenAI from its roots as a nonprofit organization with a mission to develop AI to “benefit humanity.”

A key issue in the discussions, according to the source, is how much equity Microsoft will receive if ChatGPT’s parent company is restructured. The Redmond-based tech giant has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI to date.

The current contract between the two parties runs until 2030 and Microsoft gets access to OpenAI's intellectual property such as models and products, as well as a share of revenue from product sales.

Microsoft is offering to give up a stake in OpenAI’s new for-profit business in exchange for access to new technology developed after 2030, the Financial Times reported, citing internal sources.

This is considered an important deal for OpenAI's restructuring efforts and could determine the future of a company that is pioneering large language modeling technology groups.

Earlier, OpenAI President Bret Taylor said on May 6 that the company had canceled consideration of converting its operating model into a for-profit business after "listening to civic leaders and engaging in constructive dialogue with the Delaware attorney general's office and the California attorney general's office."

According to The Verge , both attorneys general have oversight over OpenAI's nonprofit status and could have blocked the company's restructuring plans, which have been publicly opposed by Elon Musk, Meta, and others.

OpenAI’s nonprofit board, which ousted CEO Sam Altman, will continue to oversee its commercial subsidiary, which is transitioning from a for-profit model with a profit cap to a public benefit corporation.

Source: https://znews.vn/cha-de-chatgpt-tim-cach-ipo-post1552688.html