<story><title>Sam Altman didn’t take any equity in OpenAI, report says</title><url>https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/24/openai-ceo-sam-altman-didnt-take-any-equity-in-the-company-semafor.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>drclau</author><text>As I understand, OpenAI started as a non-profit entity and has taken on large donations. Then, the for-profit entity has been created and is using the technology developed by the non-profit entity, which was developed presumably by using the donated funds.
So, maybe it&amp;#x27;s not about altruism at all, but instead Sam Altman is just protecting himself against potential lawsuits from the donors? There was probably some agreement on how the technology will be used.&lt;p&gt;Elon Musk has donated $100M USD, and does not look happy about the developments, based on his tweets.</text></item><item><author>daniel-thompson</author><text>From the original article linked to by this CNBC story:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Altman also made an unusual decision for a tech boss: He would take no equity in the new for-profit entity, according to people familiar with the matter. Altman was already extremely wealthy, investing in several wildly successful tech startups, and didn’t need the money.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; He also believed the company needed to become a business to continue its work, but he told people the project was not designed to make money. Eschewing any ownership interest would help him stay aligned with the original mission.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.semafor.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;03&amp;#x2F;24&amp;#x2F;2023&amp;#x2F;the-secret-history-of-elon-musk-sam-altman-and-openai&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.semafor.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;03&amp;#x2F;24&amp;#x2F;2023&amp;#x2F;the-secret-histor...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>tashoecraft</author><text>Elon tried to buy the company and become CEO and OpenAI said no. I also heard that they knew they were going to burn through the 100M, and were counting on the 1B he promised, and couldn&amp;#x27;t raise enough money as a non profit so that&amp;#x27;s why they went for profit.</text></comment>
<story><title>Sam Altman didn’t take any equity in OpenAI, report says</title><url>https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/24/openai-ceo-sam-altman-didnt-take-any-equity-in-the-company-semafor.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>drclau</author><text>As I understand, OpenAI started as a non-profit entity and has taken on large donations. Then, the for-profit entity has been created and is using the technology developed by the non-profit entity, which was developed presumably by using the donated funds.
So, maybe it&amp;#x27;s not about altruism at all, but instead Sam Altman is just protecting himself against potential lawsuits from the donors? There was probably some agreement on how the technology will be used.&lt;p&gt;Elon Musk has donated $100M USD, and does not look happy about the developments, based on his tweets.</text></item><item><author>daniel-thompson</author><text>From the original article linked to by this CNBC story:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Altman also made an unusual decision for a tech boss: He would take no equity in the new for-profit entity, according to people familiar with the matter. Altman was already extremely wealthy, investing in several wildly successful tech startups, and didn’t need the money.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; He also believed the company needed to become a business to continue its work, but he told people the project was not designed to make money. Eschewing any ownership interest would help him stay aligned with the original mission.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.semafor.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;03&amp;#x2F;24&amp;#x2F;2023&amp;#x2F;the-secret-history-of-elon-musk-sam-altman-and-openai&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.semafor.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;03&amp;#x2F;24&amp;#x2F;2023&amp;#x2F;the-secret-histor...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>corbulo</author><text>As a rule of thumb, its never about altruism.</text></comment>