OpenAI’s Mission Evolution: From Public Good to Profit-Ready AGI

Since its founding in 2015, OpenAI has undergone a profound transformation—not just in technology, but in the very language it uses to define its purpose. According to investigative analysis by Simon Willison, who meticulously compiled and visualized OpenAI’s IRS Form 990 filings from 2016 to 2024, the organization’s official mission statement has evolved from a broad, community-oriented vision into a tightly focused, profit-aligned mandate. These filings, legally binding documents submitted to the IRS to maintain 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, offer a rare window into the internal recalibration of one of the world’s most influential AI entities.

The 2016 mission, as filed with the IRS, emphasized collective progress: "OpenAIs goal is to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return." It explicitly pledged to "openly share our plans and capabilities along the way" and to "help the world build safe AI technology." By 2018, references to open collaboration were excised. In 2020, "humanity as a whole" became simply "humanity," and "We think" was replaced with the more authoritative "OpenAI believes." The 2021 revision marked a turning point: "digital intelligence" became "general-purpose artificial intelligence," and the organization declared it would "develop and responsibly deploy safe AI technology" itself—signaling a move from facilitator to sole architect.

By 2022, the language had tightened further, adding the word "safely" to ensure AI "safely benefits humanity"—a subtle but significant reinforcement of risk mitigation. Yet, the most striking shift came in 2024. OpenAI’s mission statement was reduced to a single sentence: "OpenAIs mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity." The words "safe," "responsible," and "unconstrained by financial return" vanished entirely. Notably, the 2023 filing retained the 2022 version, suggesting the 2024 change was deliberate and strategic, not accidental.

This evolution coincides with OpenAI’s 2019 pivot to a capped-profit structure, the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, and its $10 billion partnership with Microsoft. While the organization maintains its nonprofit parent status, its operational and financial priorities have clearly realigned. The removal of safety language from its IRS mission statement is not merely semantic—it raises legal and ethical questions. The IRS uses these filings to determine compliance with nonprofit obligations; omitting commitments to safety and openness may signal a de facto abandonment of the public-interest mandate required for tax-exempt status.

Experts in nonprofit governance warn that such mission drift, if challenged, could trigger IRS scrutiny. "When an organization’s public-facing activities diverge from its legally filed mission, it opens the door to regulatory intervention," says Dr. Elena Rodriguez, a tax law professor at Stanford. "OpenAI’s 2024 statement is legally sufficient—but ethically thin. It retains the language of public benefit while shedding the mechanisms that once ensured it."

The transformation mirrors broader tensions in the AI industry: between open science and proprietary control, between altruism and capital. OpenAI’s journey—from a nonprofit founded by Elon Musk and Sam Altman to a quasi-corporate entity backed by Microsoft—is now codified not in press releases, but in IRS documents. The absence of safety and openness in its current mission doesn’t mean those values are gone—it means they are no longer legally binding. For the public, the question remains: Can artificial general intelligence truly benefit "all of humanity" if its architects are no longer legally bound to ensure it does so?