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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

  • TechEquity (Lead Organizer)

  • Economic Security Project (Executive Committee)

  • LatinoProsperity (Executive Committee)

  • Asian Law Caucus 

  • Access Humboldt 

  • California Black Freedom Fund 

  • California Calls 

  • California Community Foundation

  • California Federation of Labor Unions

  • The California Endowment 

  • The California Wellness Foundation 

  • Center for Empowered Politics

  • Center for Leadership, Equity, and Research (CLEAR) 

  • Center for Policy Initiatives 

  • Center on Resilience & Digital Justice

  • Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) 

  • City Heights CDC

  • Color of Change 

  • Creser Capital 

  • Communities United for Restorative Justice 

  • CROP 

  • Demos 

  • EBASE 

  • ELACC 

  • Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California 

  • Free Press

  • Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program 

  • Ella Baker Center for Human Rights 

  • Greenlining Institute 

  • Indigenous Justice 

  • Innovate 

  • The James Irvine Foundation 

  • Kapor Center 

  • Kapor Foundation 

  • LAANE 

  • La Familia 

  • LEAP Institute 

  • Liberty Hill Foundation 

  • Mission Asset Fund 

  • Mujeres Unidas y Activas 

  • National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

  • OCCORD 

  • Oakland Privacy 

  • One Fair Wage 

  • PICO California 

  • Prisoners with Children 

  • Public Advocates 

  • Public Good Law Center 

  • Rise Economy 

  • Rubicon Programs 

  • The San Francisco Foundation

  • Teamsters California

  • Tech Oversight California 

  • United Ways of California 

  • UFCW Western States Council 

  • UDW/AFSCME Local 3930 

  • The Unity Council  

  • Urban Leadership Development Institute 

  • Urban Peace Movement 

  • Working Partnerships USA

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