Zuckerberg’s Meta joins Musk in opposing OpenAI's for-profit transition
Tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk may not see eye to eye on a lot of things, but it seems they can both agree on one thing: OpenAI should remain a non-profit.
On Friday, Meta, led by Zuckerberg, formally requested that California Attorney General Rob Bonta block OpenAI’s move to become a for-profit company. In a sharply worded letter, Meta accused OpenAI of exploiting its nonprofit status to attract billions in funding and build its current dominance in the AI market.
“OpenAI wants to change its status while retaining all of the benefits that enabled it to reach the point it has today,” Meta wrote. “That is wrong. OpenAI should not be allowed to flout the law by taking and reappropriating assets it built as a charity and using them for potentially enormous private gains.”
Meta also warned that allowing OpenAI to proceed could set a dangerous precedent. “Failing to hold OpenAI accountable... could lead to a proliferation of similar startup ventures that are notionally charitable until they are potentially profitable,” the letter continued.
Musk’s legal fight against OpenAI
Zuckerberg’s actions align with Musk’s ongoing legal battle against OpenAI. Musk, one of the company’s co-founders, left in 2018 after disagreements over its trajectory. He has since become one of its fiercest critics, accusing OpenAI of deviating from its original mission to develop safe artificial general intelligence (AGI) for the benefit of humanity.
In November, Musk filed an injunction to prevent OpenAI’s for-profit transition, claiming that the company, alongside major investor Microsoft, is building a "for-profit monopoly." Musk alleges that this monopoly engages in anti-competitive behavior, particularly targeting his own AI venture, xAI.
OpenAI pushes back
OpenAI responded to the criticisms in a blog post titled "Elon Musk Wanted an OpenAI For-Profit." The post includes internal emails and messages dating back to the company’s founding in 2015, suggesting Musk himself questioned the nonprofit structure from the outset.
“Also, the structure doesn’t seem optimal,” Musk wrote in one email, disputing co-founder Sam Altman’s proposal for a Delaware-based nonprofit.
OpenAI has defended its shift toward a for-profit model, arguing that the change is necessary to attract more investor capital. In October, OpenAI raised $6.6 billion in funding, valuing the company at $157 billion. However, the funding comes with the condition that OpenAI must complete its for-profit transition within two years.
High stakes in the AI race
This clash comes as the AI arms race intensifies. Meta is reportedly spending up to $37 billion this year on infrastructure, much of it for AI initiatives, while Musk’s xAI secured $5 billion in funding last month.
