> it keeps the intangible benefits it accrued by being ostensibly non-profit

but there would be no different to a for-profit entity right? i.e even for-profit entities get tax benefits if they convert their profits to intangibles

this is my thinking. Open AI non-profit gets donations, uses those donations to make a profit, converts this profit to intangibles to avoid paying taxes, and pumps these intangibles into the for-profit entity. based on your hypothesis open ai avoided taxes

but the same thing in a for-profit entity also avoids taxes, i.e for-profit entity uses investment to make a profit, converts this profit to intangibles to avoid paying taxes.

so I'm trying to understand how Open AI found a loop hole where if it went via the for-profit then it wouldn't have gotten the tax advantages it got from non-profit route

Maybe we're using different definitions of "intangible", but if you can "convert" them to/from profits they're not intangible in my book. I'm thinking donated effort, people they recruited who wouldn't have signed up if then company was for-profit, mainly goodwill related stuff.

this long period of OAI non-profit status when they were making no money and spending tons on capital expenditures would not be taxable anyways.

What benefits? What taxes?

Honestly it does not sound like anyone here knows the first thing about non-profits.

OAI did it because they want to raise capital so they can fund more towards building agi.