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A comment on Musk sues Altman seeking a return to open source and non-profit for OpenAI [pdf]. Parent comment

Re:Musk sues Altman seeking a return to open source and non-... by pclmulqdq on Friday March 01, 2024 @12:21PM (#39564076)
They basically did, though. The nonprofit does nothing except further the interests of the for-profit company, and all employees get shares of of the for-profit company.

It's not unusual for nonprofits to have spinoffs, but it is unusual for the nonprofit to be so consumed by its for-profit spinoffs.

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Re:Musk sues Altman seeking a return to open source and non-... by threeseed on Friday March 01, 2024 @12:51PM (#39564478)
> The nonprofit does nothing except further the interests of the for-profit company, and all employees get shares of of the for-profit company

OpenAI has always argued that the for-profit is furthering the aims of the non-profit.

Also employees can't get shares of the non-profit so of course they would from the for-profit arm.

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Re:Musk sues Altman seeking a return to open source and non-... by pclmulqdq on Friday March 01, 2024 @01:24PM (#39564924)
That argument will be tested in court. It certainly looks like things are the other way around as of now.

Most non-profit employees receive their compensation in the form of a salary. If you need to pay "market rate" competing with organizations that offer equity, you pay a bigger salary. When non-profits spin for-profits off (eg research spinoffs), they do it with a pretty strict wall between the non-profit and the for-profit. That is not the case for OpenAI.

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