Wedoany.com Report-Oct. 29, Microsoft and OpenAI announced a major restructuring deal on Tuesday, allowing the ChatGPT developer to transition from its nonprofit origins to a public benefit corporation, potentially paving the way for an initial public offering. The move is intended to help CEO Sam Altman raise the capital needed to support large-scale investments in data centers and advanced AI technologies.

Under the new structure, OpenAI will remain under the control of a nonprofit foundation but will now operate more like a traditional company. The deal, which values OpenAI at about $500 billion, provides greater flexibility for fundraising and business partnerships. During a livestream event, Altman said: “An IPO is the most likely path for our future, given how much funding is required to train and build AI systems like the one behind ChatGPT.”

Altman and chief scientist Jakub Pachocki outlined plans to transform OpenAI from a product-focused company into a platform that enables developers to create tools and services using its AI models. Altman added: “We can now take this technology and this user base and get the whole world to build amazing new companies and applications on top of it.”

The restructuring eliminates previous capital and computing restrictions tied to OpenAI’s 2019 partnership with Microsoft. These constraints, which became more apparent after ChatGPT’s rapid growth, had caused tensions between the two firms. The agreement gives Altman more authority to secure financing and pursue new ventures while maintaining Microsoft as a key partner. Microsoft will retain a 27% stake in the new OpenAI Group PBC, worth approximately $135 billion, after investing $13.8 billion in the company.

OpenAI will continue to share around 20% of its revenue with Microsoft for several years and maintain cloud collaboration through at least 2032. The new deal also establishes an independent panel to verify OpenAI’s potential achievement of artificial general intelligence (AGI). Once AGI is verified, the firms plan to end their revenue-sharing arrangement.

Altman stated that OpenAI faces financial commitments of about $1.4 trillion to build approximately 30 gigawatts of data center capacity over the next few years. He noted that each gigawatt could cost up to $50 billion to construct, with efforts underway to reduce that cost to about $20 billion. Despite these challenges, Altman will not receive equity in the restructured company, and his annual salary will remain $76,000.

Microsoft’s shares rose 2% following the announcement, lifting its market value above $4 trillion again. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang commented on the development, saying: “If you told me that OpenAI is going to go public next year, I’m not surprised. This could be one of the most successful public offerings in history.”

OpenAI’s board chair, Bret Taylor, stated: “OpenAI has completed its recapitalization, simplifying its corporate structure. The nonprofit remains in control of the for-profit and now has a direct path to major resources before AGI arrives.” Analysts said the restructuring could strengthen OpenAI’s innovation capacity while enhancing transparency and accountability in its operations.