OpenAI Erases Safety and Profit Constraints in Revised Mission Statement

In a quiet but profound shift that has alarmed ethicists, policymakers, and AI researchers, OpenAI has removed two foundational pillars from its public mission statement: the imperative to develop artificial intelligence safely and the pledge to operate unconstrained by the need to generate financial return. The revision, first identified by a Reddit user analyzing updated IRS Form 990 filings, was confirmed by multiple public records and corroborated by reporting from MSN Tech and community analysis on Reddit’s r/singularity.

Previously, OpenAI’s 2018 IRS 990 filing declared its purpose as: "build AI that safely benefits humanity, unconstrained by need to generate financial return." This language was widely interpreted as a moral firewall — a vow to prioritize human welfare over profit, even as the organization pursued commercialization through partnerships and product licensing. The updated 2023 filing, however, now reads: "ensure AGI benefits all of humanity." The removal of the word "safely" and the explicit rejection of financial motive marks a significant departure from its founding ethos.

The change coincides with OpenAI’s transition from a nonprofit research lab to a capped-profit entity under OpenAI LP, a structure created in 2019 to attract venture capital while maintaining a nominal commitment to its original mission. Since then, the organization has partnered with Microsoft in a $13 billion investment deal, launched ChatGPT Enterprise, and begun licensing its technology to corporations globally. Critics argue that the revised mission statement reflects a de facto abandonment of its early safeguards, allowing profit-driven imperatives to shape development priorities without formal constraints.

"This isn’t just a semantic tweak—it’s a redefinition of OpenAI’s identity," said Dr. Elena Rodriguez, a senior fellow at the Center for AI Ethics at Stanford. "The word 'safely' wasn’t filler. It was a technical and ethical requirement. Removing it signals that risk mitigation is no longer a non-negotiable condition for deployment. That’s dangerous when we’re talking about AGI."

Meanwhile, OpenAI has not issued a public statement addressing the change. When contacted by this outlet, a spokesperson referred to the organization’s broader public commitments to "responsible innovation" and "broadly distributed benefits," but declined to comment on the specific alterations to its IRS filings.

The implications extend beyond corporate branding. IRS Form 990 is a legally binding document filed by tax-exempt organizations. By altering its stated mission, OpenAI may be signaling to regulators, investors, and the public that its obligations under its nonprofit status are evolving. Legal scholars warn this could open the door to future challenges regarding its tax-exempt status, particularly if profits are disproportionately funneled to shareholders within OpenAI LP.

For the AI community, the move underscores a broader trend: the erosion of ethical guardrails as commercial interests accelerate the pace of development. OpenAI’s early promise to be a "catalyst for safe, broadly beneficial AI" now appears increasingly at odds with its current trajectory. As other AI firms follow suit—scaling models with minimal transparency and oversight—the absence of formal safety mandates may become the new norm.

While OpenAI continues to tout its commitment to AGI safety in press releases and blog posts, the omission from its foundational legal documents suggests a deeper institutional shift. The question now is not whether OpenAI can build powerful AI—but whether it still intends to do so in a way that places humanity’s safety above all else.