The Encode organization recently requested court support against OpenAI's plans to transition into a for-profit company. Encode is a nonprofit organization and a co-sponsor of California's Artificial Intelligence Safety Act. The organization's lawyers stated in a brief that OpenAI's transition would "undermine" its original mission to develop and deploy artificial intelligence technology in a safe and beneficial manner for the public.
Sneha Revanur, the founder and president of Encode, accused OpenAI of "internalizing the profits of artificial intelligence while externalizing the consequences to all of humanity," and stated that "the court must intervene to ensure that AI development aligns with the public interest." The organization's brief has the support of AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton and Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.
OpenAI plans to transition its for-profit segment into a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) in Delaware, with common stock and OpenAI's mission as its public benefit. However, Encode's lawyers argue that this would cause OpenAI to lose its original mission and transfer control to the PBC, which would "transform an organization legally bound to ensure the safety of advanced AI into one legally bound to 'balance' its considerations of public interest with 'shareholders' economic interests'."
Encode's brief also pointed out that once the company reorganization is complete, the board of the nonprofit OpenAI will no longer be able to cancel investor equity for safety reasons. The nonprofit OpenAI has committed to cease competing with any "value-aligned, safety-conscious projects" that are close to establishing AGI before it, but OpenAI, as a for-profit entity, has less (if any) motivation to do so.
Encode's lawyers stated that the fiduciary duty to humanity that OpenAI claims will no longer exist, as Delaware law clearly states that PBC directors have no obligation to the public. The Encode organization is calling on the court to support its efforts to prevent OpenAI from transitioning into a for-profit company, thereby protecting AI safety and the public interest.
