AISN #53: An Open Letter Attempts to Block OpenAI Restructuring

<p> Plus, SafeBench Winners.</p> <p> Welcome to the AI Safety Newsletter by the Center for AI Safety. We discuss developments in AI and AI safety. No technical background required.</p><p> In this edition: Experts and ex-employees urge the Attorneys General of California and Delaware to block OpenAI's for-profit restructure; CAIS announces the winners of its safety benchmarking competition.</p><p> Listen to the AI Safety Newsletter for free on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.</p><p><strong> An Open Letter Attempts to Block OpenAI Restructuring</strong></p><p> A group of former OpenAI employees and independent experts published an open letter urging the Attorneys General (AGs) of California (where OpenAI operates) and Delaware (where OpenAI is incorporated) to block OpenAI's planned restructuring into a for-profit entity. The letter argues the move would fundamentally undermine the organization's charitable mission by jeopardizing the governance safeguards designed to protect control over AGI from profit motives.</p><p> OpenAI was founded with the charitable purpose to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. OpenAI's original nonprofit structure, and later its capped-profit model, were designed to control profit motives in the development of AGI, which OpenAI defines as "highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work." The structure was designed to prevent [...]</p> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(00:32) An Open Letter Attempts to Block OpenAI Restructuring</p><p>(04:23) SafeBench Winners</p><p>(08:58) Other News</p> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> April 29th, 2025 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://newsletter.safe.ai/p/an-open-letter-attempts-to-block?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://newsletter.safe.ai/p/an-open-letter-attempts-to-block</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Want more? Check out our <a href="https://newsletter.mlsafety.org/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Episode+description+footer" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">ML Safety Newsletter</a> for technical safety research.</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=center_for_ai_safety&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-8ts!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9c22c79-f9b2-4fb5-af77-5626e122434f_1600x1394.png" target="_blank"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-8ts!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9c22c79-f9b2-4fb5-af77-5626e122434f_1600x1394.png" alt="Table comparing governance safeguards between today and proposed restructuring across six categories." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>