(
OPEN Artificial
Intelligence) A research laboratory created in 2015 to develop artificial intelligence available for everyone. OpenAI has made major contributions to the community, and although its models were initially open source, the company mostly switched to closed source. See
DALL-E,
Q-Star and
OpenAI Codex.
Although OpenAI was founded by 10 individuals, Elon Musk and Sam Altman have received most of the publicity. OpenAI is famous for its GPT large language models, from which ChatGPT was derived (see
GPT and
ChatGPT). As of 2025, Microsoft has invested approximately $13 billion in OpenAI and has integrated its AI technologies into many of its products. Microsoft is also entitled to 49% of the profits from the for-profit side of the company. See
Stargate Project.
Out After Three Years
In 2018, Musk was unhappy about the progress OpenAI was making and offered to run the company. When the board turned him down, Musk left to form his own company (see
xAI).
Altman Was Out and Back In
In November 2023, the OpenAI board removed Sam Altman, claiming they lost confidence in his leadership. However, after pressure from employees and investors, Altman was reinstated within a few days.
Musk Sued, Then Dropped It
In February 2024, Musk sued OpenAI and Altman claiming the company was not a non-profit entity, but if it changed its name to "ClosedAI," he would drop the lawsuit. Three months later, he dropped the suit without explanation.