OpenAI Redraws Its Corporate Blueprint as Microsoft Tightens Grip With 27% Stake

OpenAI has redrawn its corporate blueprint — one which Microsoft holds a commanding 27% stake in the entity. The restructuring into a public benefit corporation not only cements the tech giant’s influence but reshapes the power balance driving the global AI race.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft now has bought over 27% stake in OpenAI’s restructured entity for a price of roughly $135 billion. As part of the deal, OpenAI will commit $250 billion to Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure over the duration of their partnership — solidifying a relationship that blends strategic dependency with financial might.

The public benefit corporation remains a profit-oriented entity but must legally balance shareholder interests with a broader social mission. This new structure also grants OpenAI greater flexibility to raise equity capital while maintaining its stated goal of developing safe, widely accessible AI.

Still, not everyone is convinced. Elon Musk, who helped found OpenAI, continues to argue that the company has drifted from its original non-profit ethos. He contends the reorganization underscores how AI’s most ambitious player has morphed from an open research collective into a commercial fortress aligned with Big Tech.

ChatGPT Dominates but Faces Rising Competition

Despite criticism, ChatGPT remains the world’s most widely used large language model, with roughly 800 million weekly active users, according to industry data from Demandsage. Its applications now extend beyond text generation to financial analysis and algorithmic trading.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, traders are increasingly using ChatGPT-powered bots to scan crypto and equity markets, identify trade setups, and adapt strategies in real time.

Yet competition is accelerating. A recent study comparing AI models in simulated crypto trading found that X’s Grok and China’s DeepSeek outperformed both ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini in profitability. Each began with a $200 test balance, later scaled to $10,000, with all trades executed on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid.

A New Corporate Phase for OpenAI

OpenAI’s conversion into a public benefit corporation marks its third transformation — from a non-profit lab in 2015 to a capped-profit structure in 2019, and now to a PBC designed for scale and sustainability. The move makes OpenAI one of the most valuable privately aligned AI firms globally, while enshrining Microsoft as both investor and infrastructure backbone.

Here at Coinlive, we belive OpenAI’s shift to a public benefit corporation is less about altruism and more about strategic permanence. By codifying Microsoft’s influence, the company has traded independence for industrial scale — a decision that could accelerate innovation but also tighten Big Tech’s grip on AI’s future. For an industry that thrives on decentralization, this consolidation raises a critical question: who truly benefits from “open” AI — the public, or its shareholders?