However, this non-profit model was short-lived. In 2019, the year Sam Altman assumed the role of CEO, OpenAI introduced a For-Profit subsidiary company named OpenAI Global LLC. This subsidiary operates on a capped profits model, The profit earning would be capped with a limit. They limited returns to 100 times the initial investment.
Any investors investing in this for-profit company would get 100 times the return on their investment at most. Any excess profits earned by this company would be directed back to
the non-profit parent company.
In 2019, OpenAI’s for-profit subsidiary secured its first funding from Microsoft. A monumental $1 billion investment from Microsoft. Over the following four years, as the
subsidiary gained widespread recognition, it successfully attracted a total of $13 billion in investments. Presently, Microsoft is reported to hold a 49% stake in OpenAI’s for-profit arm.
