Sam Altman – Credit Chen Galili
OpenAI, the controversial artificial intelligence company run by Sam Altman, is expanding into Asia, opening an office in Tokyo, which will join its two other international offices located in London and Dublin. Meanwhile, the firm removed Altman as owner of its OpenAI Startup Fund which helps startups get off the ground.
Launched in 2021, OpenAI Startup Fund is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California. The firm seeks to invest in energy, healthcare, education, artificial intelligence, infrastructure & technology sectors.
Axios reported that control of the fund was moved to Ian Hathaway, who’s helped manage it since it launched in 2021. According to Axios, last May it reported $175 million in total commitments, including from OpenAI partner Microsoft, but now lists the fund’s gross asset value at over $325 million.
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However, appearances are everything, especially in the world of business, so OpenAi was concerned with the fund’s management structure and stated that Sam Altman does not have a stake in the fund; even though, he was listed as the owner.
“As previously communicated, the fund’s initial GP structure was a temporary arrangement, and involved no personal investment or financial interest from Sam. This change provides further clarity,” OpenAI told Axios.
OpenAI is an artificial intelligence (AI) research and implementation organization based in the United States. It was founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Ilya Sutskever, Greg Brockman and several others. OpenAI’s mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all humanity.
Sam Altman has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine and one of the “Best Young Entrepreneurs in Technology” by Businessweek. He is also the founder of the Long Term Future Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in companies working to solve long-term problems like climate change and pandemics.
