Internal records show that OpenAI founders had private doubts about the non-profit structure as early as 2017.

“This claim is supported by reporting on internal OpenAI documents that have become public. A 2017 diary entry from co-founder Greg Brockman, cited in a New Yorker investigation by Ronan Farrow and in documents from Elon Musk's lawsuit, shows this doubt. Brockman wrote, “cannot say that we are committed to the non-profit . . . if three months later we're doing b-corp then it was a lie.” This directly confirms that key figures within OpenAI were questioning the viability and long-term commitment to the non-profit model years before the company's eventual restructuring. Context: These doubts arose during a period of internal conflict, including an alleged takeover attempt by Elon Musk. The discussions about potentially shifting to a for-profit or B-corp model were happening while the organization was publicly committed to its non-profit mission.”