OpenAI's nonprofit wing earned less than $45,000 in 2022

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The nonprofit division of OpenAI reported just $44,485 in income on its 2022 tax return. This is on top of the commercial success of ChatGPT, which can generate millions of dollars in revenue.

Here's What We Know

OpenAI was originally set up in 2015 as a non-profit organisation to develop safe AI for the benefit of society. In 2019, it spun off a commercial division led by Sam Altman, which monetises the company's products.

Now, OpenAI's structure has come under renewed scrutiny. Its non-profit wing is formally exempt from paying taxes and filing audited accounts, as its annual revenue was less than $2 million. At the same time, the capitalisation of the commercial division is estimated at $90 billion after Microsoft's investment.

It is not yet known exactly how much revenue OpenAI's commercial business generates. It was valued at $28 million in 2022, and could grow sharply in 2023 after the launch of a powerful version of ChatGPT for subscribers and enterprise customers.

However, the company still says it is guided by the principles of its non-profit division.

Source: The Register