On December 16, Financial Association reported (Editor: Ma Lan) that OpenAI's plan to transition from a non-profit organization to a profit-making entity has caused quite a stir in Silicon Valley, especially facing resistance from its early investor Musk.

To address this issue, Musk has sued OpenAI, asking a USA district court to block this transition. Additionally, another major Silicon Valley firm, Meta, has recently joined the ranks.

Last week, Meta sent a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, requesting to prevent OpenAI's transition from a non-profit organization to a commercial company, stating that OpenAI has no right to take and divert the assets it obtained as a charity to gain large profits in the future, which is a contempt of the law.

Meta also stated that Musk is qualified and capable of representing the interests of the people of California in this matter. OpenAI's actions may have a significant impact on Silicon Valley, leading startups to use this as a precedent to utilize investors' tax-exempt donations to non-profits to support early research and development, and then transition to profit-making organizations once the technology becomes commercially viable.

Conscience or business?

OpenAI was initially a non-profit company, but it released the blockbuster AI chatbot ChatGPT two years ago, creating immense revenue. Currently, its annual revenue reaches billions of dollars.

The company's CEO, Altman, stated this year that the company needs to shed its non-profit status to enhance its appeal to investors and continue supporting its AI ambitions. If OpenAI cannot transition to a commercial company within two years, it will have to return the billions of dollars raised this year.

After receiving the legal lawsuit from Musk, OpenAI also recently disclosed the correspondence between its executives and Musk, criticizing that Musk had long intended to transform OpenAI into a for-profit organization, and that the reasons for his current legal suit are fundamentally unfounded.

However, it seems that OpenAI's adversaries are not limited to Musk. As a significant competitor of OpenAI in the AI market, Meta is upgrading its Llama large language model, while also trying to hinder OpenAI.

Interestingly, the relationship between Meta and Musk is not very close. Previously, Meta's founder, Chairman, and CEO Zuckerberg had planned a fight with Musk over a verbal dispute, but the cage match ultimately fell through. However, on the issue of OpenAI, the two sides have now reached a rare consensus.

In addition, the close relationship between Musk and the incoming President of the USA, Trump, has also raised concerns for OpenAI. Altman stated earlier this month in an interview that he believes Musk will do the right thing, rather than using political power to harm competitors, which is not 'American.'