OpenAI investors are preparing a lawsuit against the board of directors

Yesterday it emerged that almost all of the employees of startup OpenAI had signed an open letter to the board of directors demanding his resignation, threatening to leave after two of the company’s founders were ousted. Now, to top it all off, OpenAI investors are considering filing a lawsuit against the board of directors.

Reuters reported this morning that some investors in OpenAI intend to sue the company’s board of directors, whose actions not only led to the resignation of CEO Sam Altman, but also threatened a mass layoff. Potentially affected investors are now consulting with lawyers to assess the prospects of this claim. According to the authors of the initiative, the scandal surrounding one of the most famous startups in the field of artificial intelligence could cost investors hundreds of millions of dollars.

If you’re not familiar, OpenAI’s ownership structure is not exactly common for companies in the industry. The non-profit parent company OpenAI has serious powers in terms of business management, and the capital of the subsidiary commercial structure is 49% owned by Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion in this business. Other investors and employees of OpenAI itself control 49% of the capital of the company’s commercial structure, with the remaining 2% belonging to the non-profit parent structure.

Such a scheme gives the company’s employees serious opportunities to put pressure on OpenAI’s board of directors, while venture capitalists who have invested in the company’s capital do not have much influence. Initially, OpenAI operated as a non-profit organization, but in 2019 it created a commercial subsidiary to raise capital for its development. Members of a company’s board of directors have limited responsibility for personnel-related decisions, as outside experts explain. From this perspective, it would be difficult for OpenAI investors to win a potential lawsuit.