OpenAI had been pursuing this corporate restructuring for more than a year, first quietly, and then—as details leaked—in the public eye.The public arena brought lots of critics, from regulators and AI safety advocates to competitors—all of whom objected to OpenAI detaching from its non-profit parent company.

“The nonprofit status significantly reduces OpenAI’s ability to raise capital, as investors would want to be able to generate a return on their investment, which is considerably harder if a non-profit controls a commercial entity,” said Gil Luria, analyst at D.A. Davidson.

The company will become a public benefit corporation and the nonprofit that has controlled it will be its largest shareholder.