OpenAI’s Charitable Assets Must Be Protected To Benefit the Public Good

The Coalition for Artificial Intelligence Nonprofit Integrity (CANI) – which includes researchers, consumer advocates, nonprofits, and community leaders – is urging the California Legislature to take decisive action to protect OpenAI’s charitable assets with transparency and accountability.

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CA Legislature Must Take Action

The California Legislature must take decisive action to protect OpenAI’s charitable assets – IP, products, and services – during its conversion to a for-profit entity, ensuring a transparent and accountable process. The estimated value of these assets exceeds $300 billion and demands careful stewardship to ensure they continue serving the public good. This responsibility cannot be left solely to one single official, as democratic accountability is essential to guide this process, keeping the protection of the charitable assets at the forefront.

We need a legislative framework that includes:

Independent Oversight: Establish an autonomous oversight body to monitor OpenAI’s adherence to its mission of developing safe AGI to benefit all of humanity, and prevent unduly concentrating power over AGI in the hands of a few individuals or a corporation.

Universal Benefit: Use governance structures that are designed to serve all of humanity to prevent exclusive control and ensure AGI advancements benefit all humanity.

Humanity Maintains Control: Ensure OpenAI's resources are solely utilized to benefit all of humanity.

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OpenAI's False
Promises

OpenAI was founded on an altruistic mission to develop AI and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) for the benefit of humanity. Now that they are nearing unprecedented levels of profitability and are on the brink of winning the race to develop AGI, they are attempting to transfer the charitable assets to a for-profit entity and unduly concentrate power in the hands of a few.

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OpenAI's announcement yesterday is little more than smoke and mirrors, failing to address the serious concerns raised by former employees, academics, and other experts. OpenAI's decision will still transfer the charitable assets for the benefit of just a few private individuals and investors. It will not resolve conflicts of interest or ensure transparency, undermining the public trust in their mission. We believe OpenAI should instead prioritize establishing autonomous oversight, accountability and transparency to uphold its original nonprofit principles.

The reality is that a for-profit will still be created.

The assets will still move from humanity to the for-profit and the nonprofit "in control" will be controlled by the same individuals who will own massive equity stakes in the for-profit.
This enormous conflict of interest will ensure that their own financial interests dictate the operations of the organization, rather than the mission to benefit all of humanity.
This would still provide the executives command of millions of superhuman-level AI agents. Currently, this asset now belongs to all of humanity as an insurance policy for humanity's combined economic interests and political power, but under the move by OpenAI it will now be transferred to the control and for the profit of a few individuals and investors.
OpenAI's move to a for-profit has been called "the biggest theft of the millenia, if not of all of human history." And this latest announcement has not changed anything.

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