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Background

OpenAI was originally founded as a nonprofit to ensure artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. As a nonprofit, OpenAI is legally required to dedicate all of its resources to advancing that mission and serving the public good. 

 

But, for years, OpenAI has been using its charitable assets for private commercial gain. Since 2019, OpenAI has methodically shifted power away from its nonprofit parent organization into a tangled web of business deals and investor relationships. Today, the nonprofit’s assets are largely unaccounted for, and its ability to steer AI toward meaningful public benefits is deeply compromised.

Who We Are

EyesOnOpenAI is a coalition of more than 60 philanthropic, labor, and nonprofit organizations committed to holding OpenAI accountable to its mission of advancing AI for the benefit of humanity–not corporate interests. 

 

The coalition was one of the driving forces leading to OpenAI’s decision to remain a nonprofit and abandon its plans to formally convert to a for-profit. We also pushed OpenAI’s nonprofit commission to include many of our demands in the recommendations the commission included in its report to OpenAI’s board.

What's At Stake

Amid mounting pressure from our coalition, OpenAI reversed course and announced it would remain a nonprofit. But their latest plans to convert its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation (PBC) raise new questions about whether OpenAI is truly protecting its public-interest mission—or just rebranding its for-profit ambitions, including:

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  • Which of OpenAI’s entities owns the technologies it develops? 

  • How will OpenAI avoid conflicts of interest and self-dealing among executives and investors? 

  • Who will reap the financial gain that the for-profit creates? 

  • What happens when shareholder interests conflict with the public interest that the nonprofit is legally bound to serve?

 

The stakes are not just technical; they’re moral. AI could help us adapt to climate change, detect deadly diseases, and simply give us more time back in our busy lives. But it’s also exacerbating greenhouse gas emissions, wrongful incarceration, unemployment, and worldwide misinformation. As artificial intelligence touches every corner of society, working people should benefit–not lose out–from a multi-billion dollar investment in AI for the public good.

The Solution

EyesOnOpenAI wants a future where our nation is not only the epicenter of AI development, but also the model for AI accountability. We want a world in which technology can advance innovation and efficiency, without sacrificing human dignity or public good.

​That’s why we are calling on California Attorney General Rob Bonta to use his oversight power as the supervisor of nonprofit funds in the state to:

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  1. Continue a robust investigation into OpenAI’s governance and compliance with California nonprofit law; 

  2. Require the transfer of OpenAI’s nonprofit assets to a fully independent charitable entity committed to advancing the public interest; and

  3. Ensure true board independence with ongoing state oversight to protect OpenAI’s original mission to benefit humanity.

Coalition Membership

  • Fred Blackwell, CEO, The San Francisco Foundation

  • Orson Aguilar, President and CEO, LatinoProsperity 

  • Aarti Kohli, Executive Director, Asian Law Caucus 

  • Sean Taketa McLaughlin, Emeritus, Access Humboldt 

  • Mark Philpart, President and CEO, California Black Freedom Fund 

  • Sabrina Smith, CEO, California Calls 

  • Sylvia Aguilar, CEO, California Community Builders

  • Miguel Santana, President and CEO, California Community Foundation

  • Brenda Solorzano, President and CEO, The California Endowment 

  • Shane Gusman, Director, California Teamsters Public Affairs Council 

  • Richard Tate, President and CEO, The California Wellness Foundation 

  • Alex Tom, Executive Director, Center for Empowered Politics 

  • Dr. Kyra Green, Executive Director, Center for Policy Initiatives 

  • Lucas Zucker, Co-Executive Director, Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) 

  • Allen-Kyle Portia, Interim Executive Director, Color of Change 

  • Juan Hernandez III, CEO and co-founder, Creser Capital 

  • George Galvis, Executive Director, Communities United for Restorative Justice 

  • Terah Lawyer, Executive Director, CROP 

  • Taifa Smith Butler, President, Demos 

  • Kate O'Hara, Executive Director, EBASE 

  • Natalie Foster, President and Founder, Economic Security Project 

  • Monica Mejia, Executive Director, ELACC 

  • Nathan Calvin, General Counsel and VP of State Affairs, Encode AI

  • Caroline Peattie, Executive Director, Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California 

  • Jessica J. Gonzalez, Co-CEO, Free Press

  • Chief Royal Ramey, CEO and Co-Founder, Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program 

  • James King, Co-Director of Programs, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights 

  • Olga Talamante, Interim President, Greenlining Institute 

  • Morning Star Gali, Executive Director, Indigenous Justice 

  • Michelle Vilchez, CEO, Innovate 

  • Don Howard, President and CEO, The James Irvine Foundation 

  • Patrick Armstrong, Kapor Center 

  • Lili Gangas, Chief Technology Community Officer, Kapor Foundation 

  • Allison Scott, Ph.D, CEO, Kapor Foundation 

  • Victor Sanchez, Executive Director, LAANE 

  • Aaron Ortiz, CEO, La Familia 

  • Rey Leon, CEO, LEAP Institute 

  • Shane Goldsmith, President and CEO, Liberty Hill Foundation 

  • José A. Quiñonez, Founder and CEO, Mission Asset Fund 

  • Juana Flores, Executive Director, Mujeres Unidas y Activas 

  • Aaron Dorfman, President and CEO, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

  • Ivon Peña and Marisol Ramirez, Co-Directors, OCCORD 

  • Tracy Rosenberg, Advocacy Director, Oakland Privacy 

  • Saru Jayaraman, President, One Fair Wage 

  • Joseph Tomás McKellar, Executive Director, PICO California 

  • Paul Briley, Executive Director, Prisoners with Children 

  • Guillermo Mayer, CEO, Public Advocates 

  • Ted Mermin, Executive Director, Public Good Law Center 

  • Paulina Gonzalez-Britto, CEO, Rise Economy 

  • "DC" Carole Dorham-Kelly, Ph.D., President and CEO, Rubicon Programs 

  • Catherine Bracy, CEO and Founder, Tech Equity Collaborative 

  • Marjorie Connolly, Communications Director, Tech Oversight California 

  • Pete Manzo, President and CEO, United Ways of California 

  • Kristin Heidelbach, Senior Director of External Affairs, UFCW Western States Council 

  • Kristina Bas Hamilton, Senior Director, UDW/AFSCME Local 3930 

  • Chris Iglesias, CEO, The Unity Council  

  • Astrid Zuniga, President, United Domestic Workers 

  • Fred Sotelo, Chairman, Urban Leadership Development Institute 

  • Sikander Iqbal, Deputy Director, Urban Peace Movement 

  • Maria Noel Fernandez, Executive Director, Working Partnerships USA

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