OpenAI removes Sam Altman's ownership of its Startup Fund
OpenAI has changed the governance structure of its venture capital fund that backs AI startups, so its high profile chief executive Sam Altman no longer owns or controls the fund, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The change, documented in the March 29 filing, came after Altman's ownership of the OpenAI Startup Fund raised eyebrows for its unusual structure--while being marketed similar to a corporate venture arm, the fund was raised by Altman from outside limited partners and he made investment decisions. OpenAI has said Altman does not have financial interest in the fund despite the ownership.
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Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIIT DelhiIITD Certificate Programme in Data Science & Machine LearningVisitMITMIT Technology Leadership and InnovationVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Product ManagementVisit Axios first reported on the ownership change on Monday. In a statement, a spokesperson for OpenAI said the fund's initial general partner (GP) structure was a temporary arrangement, and «this change provides further clarity.»
The OpenAI Startup Fund is investing $175 million raised from OpenAI partners such as Microsoft, although OpenAI itself is not an investor.
Control of the fund has been moved over to Ian Hathaway, a partner at the fund since 2021, according to the filing. Altman will no longer be a general partner at the fund.
OpenAI said Hathaway has overseen the fund's accelerator program and led investments in such
