Re:Mozilla.ai
by UberFly on Monday September 25, 2023 @10:05PM
(#37653409)
They need to divert profits to stay valid on their non-profit tax exemption. Just a wild guess.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
That's not how a 501c3 charity works. There are very strict rules about what the charitable funds can be used for, and "software development" (let alone "AI development") isn't one of those, even if the software is given away for free.
"To establish 501(c)(3) status, your organization needs to be charitable (providing relief to the needy or distressed), educational (improving skills of individuals or providing useful information to the general public), scientific (research in a manner sufficiently in the public interest and not commercial), or in a few other categories (religious, youth amateur sports, etc.)."
https://www.mill.law/blog/more-501c3-rejections-open-source-...
The Mozilla Foundation, the charity part, uses its funds for education.
Funds can be used for operations, which can include software development. (Not really applicable in the Mozilla.ai case, where software would likely be the raison d'etre