Why California’s attorney general must continue the investigation into OpenAI

Orson Aguilar and Catherine Bracy

July 9, 2025

Just days after abandoning its planned conversion to a for-profit entity and proclaiming it would remain a nonprofit, OpenAI puzzled us with another announcement: a nearly $6.5 billion deal to buy io, a start-up created by former Apple executive and iPhone designer Jony Ive.

This isn’t the only business deal OpenAI has in the works. The company also announced plans to build a massive new data center in the United Arab Emirates and has reportedly purchased AI startup Windsurf.

If anyone was under the impression that OpenAI’s decision to remain a nonprofit is a win for the public, its profit-driven business moves should put that to rest. Deals like these, which require OpenAI to sell stakes in the company, erode the nonprofit’s control of the business. 

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