OpenAI
Also known as OpenAI Group PBC
AI company behind ChatGPT and the GPT models, controlled by the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation.
Controlled by OpenAI Foundation since 28 Oct 2025. Investors include Microsoft, SoftBank Group and 2 others. Run by Sam Altman.
Parent company
- OpenAI FoundationOrganization
controls OpenAI Group PBC and appoints all its directors; 26% equity at the October 2025 recapitalization (about $130B), plus a warrant for more if the share price rises over tenfold after 15 years · since 28 Oct 2025 2
Investors
- MicrosoftOrganization
roughly 27% on an as-converted diluted basis at the October 2025 recapitalization, valued at about $135B · since 2019 3
- SoftBank GroupOrganization
about 13% after completing a $30B investment on 1 October 2026; $64.6B invested in total 5
- AmazonOrganization
$50B committed in the February 2026 round: $15B first, $35B later once conditions are met · since 27 Feb 2026 4
- NvidiaOrganization
$30B committed in the February 2026 round · since 27 Feb 2026 4
Board
Adam D'Angelo, Sue Desmond Hellmann, Paul Nakasone, Adebayo Ogunlesi, Nicole Seligman, David Velez, Robin Vince, Zico Kolter (non-voting observer; sits on the Foundation board only), Paul Christiano (non-voting observer; Foundation board member) 27
Before
Invested in until 14 Aug 2026
Cursor (OpenAI Startup Fund led the $8M seed) source on Cursor
Partners
- MicrosoftOrganization
Azure stays the primary cloud; Microsoft's model and product licence runs to 2032 but became non-exclusive in April 2026, and OpenAI may now sell through other clouds · since Apr 2026 6
- Oracle
Stargate venture partner (January 2025); contract to buy $300B of computing power over five years (September 2025) · since 21 Jan 2025 1
- SoftBank GroupOrganization
Stargate joint venture with Oracle and MGX, estimated at $500B over four years · since 21 Jan 2025 1
- AMD
five-year deal for six gigawatts of chips starting with the MI450; OpenAI may buy up to 160 million AMD shares · since Oct 2025 1
- AmazonOrganization
AWS: 2 GW of Trainium computing capacity, and exclusive third-party cloud for OpenAI Frontier · since 27 Feb 2026 4
- Broadcom
custom AI chip collaboration · since 2024 1
- CoreWeave
$11.9B of computing over five years, plus $350M in CoreWeave shares · since Mar 2025 1
- OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit and added a for-profit subsidiary in 2019.
- On 28 October 2025 the for-profit became a public benefit corporation, OpenAI Group PBC.
- The nonprofit, renamed the OpenAI Foundation, controls it and appoints its whole board.
- Microsoft, SoftBank, Amazon and Nvidia are among its largest outside investors.
- It buys computing power through deals with Microsoft, Oracle, AMD, AWS and others.
Why it matters
- It makes ChatGPT and the GPT models, and its unusual ownership decides who can steer one of the largest AI developers.
- Founded
- December 2015, as a nonprofit1
- Founders
- Including Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman1
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California1
- Structure
- Public benefit corporation (OpenAI Group PBC) since 28 October 2025, controlled by the OpenAI Foundation2
- Owners at the 2025 recapitalization
- OpenAI Foundation 26%, Microsoft roughly 27%, current and former employees and investors 47%2
- Microsoft's first investment
- $1 billion in 2019; over $13 billion in total by Wikipedia's account1
- Valuation
- $852 billion, in a round of $122 billion in commitments (2026)5
- Listed
- No. Wikipedia reports an IPO filing in June 2026, and Altman saying in September 2026 it would not go public this year1
- Employees
- About 4,500 (2026)1
Who owns and runs it
Controlled by OpenAI Foundation since 28 Oct 2025. Investors include Microsoft, SoftBank Group and 2 others. Run by Sam Altman.
Parent company
- OpenAI FoundationOrganization
controls OpenAI Group PBC and appoints all its directors; 26% equity at the October 2025 recapitalization (about $130B), plus a warrant for more if the share price rises over tenfold after 15 years · since 28 Oct 2025 2
Investors
- MicrosoftOrganization
roughly 27% on an as-converted diluted basis at the October 2025 recapitalization, valued at about $135B · since 2019 3
- SoftBank GroupOrganization
about 13% after completing a $30B investment on 1 October 2026; $64.6B invested in total 5
- AmazonOrganization
$50B committed in the February 2026 round: $15B first, $35B later once conditions are met · since 27 Feb 2026 4
- NvidiaOrganization
$30B committed in the February 2026 round · since 27 Feb 2026 4
Board
Adam D'Angelo, Sue Desmond Hellmann, Paul Nakasone, Adebayo Ogunlesi, Nicole Seligman, David Velez, Robin Vince, Zico Kolter (non-voting observer; sits on the Foundation board only), Paul Christiano (non-voting observer; Foundation board member) 27
Before
Invested in until 14 Aug 2026
Cursor (OpenAI Startup Fund led the $8M seed) source on Cursor
Connections
Partners
- MicrosoftOrganization
Azure stays the primary cloud; Microsoft's model and product licence runs to 2032 but became non-exclusive in April 2026, and OpenAI may now sell through other clouds · since Apr 2026 6
- Oracle
Stargate venture partner (January 2025); contract to buy $300B of computing power over five years (September 2025) · since 21 Jan 2025 1
- SoftBank GroupOrganization
Stargate joint venture with Oracle and MGX, estimated at $500B over four years · since 21 Jan 2025 1
- AMD
five-year deal for six gigawatts of chips starting with the MI450; OpenAI may buy up to 160 million AMD shares · since Oct 2025 1
- AmazonOrganization
AWS: 2 GW of Trainium computing capacity, and exclusive third-party cloud for OpenAI Frontier · since 27 Feb 2026 4
- Broadcom
custom AI chip collaboration · since 2024 1
- CoreWeave
$11.9B of computing over five years, plus $350M in CoreWeave shares · since Mar 2025 1
Links
Sources
- OpenAI (Wikipedia) (opens en.wikipedia.org)
- Our structure (OpenAI) (opens openai.com)
- The next chapter of the Microsoft–OpenAI partnership (Microsoft, 28 October 2025) (opens blogs.microsoft.com)
- OpenAI's $110 billion funding round draws investment from Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank (Reuters via Yahoo Finance, 27 February 2026) (opens finance.yahoo.com)
- SoftBank completes final phase of $30 billion investment in OpenAI (Reuters via The Star, 2 October 2026) (opens thestar.com.my)
- Microsoft and OpenAI revise partnership terms on cloud access, licensing, and revenue sharing (W.Media, April 2026) (opens w.media)
- Paul Christiano joins OpenAI Foundation Board (OpenAI Foundation, 9 September 2026) (opens openaifoundation.org)
- Bret Taylor (Wikipedia) (opens en.wikipedia.org)
- Sam Altman (Wikipedia) (opens en.wikipedia.org)
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