According to ChainCatcher, as reported by Jin Shi, The Information disclosed that OpenAI CEO Altman hopes to transform this non-profit managed artificial intelligence development company into a for-profit company, and the biggest obstacle he faces is Microsoft. The company has significant influence in this process as it has committed over $13 billion to OpenAI.
Since October of last year, the two companies have been negotiating potential changes to OpenAI's structure, focusing primarily on four aspects:
Microsoft's equity in the for-profit entity;
Will Microsoft continue to be the exclusive cloud service provider for OpenAI;
How long will Microsoft maintain the right to use OpenAI's intellectual property to meet its product needs;
Will Microsoft continue to take 20% from OpenAI's revenue.
It is currently unclear when OpenAI and Microsoft plan to complete this process, but both parties are moving quickly and facing time pressure: if OpenAI fails to complete the transformation within the next two years, recently financed investors can retrieve their funds along with 9% interest—totaling approximately $7.2 billion. Company leadership has already told employees that OpenAI hopes to buy back some of their stock after the transition to profitability, so employees currently have ample reason to hope for the swift completion of this change.