Who's who · Frontier labs
OpenAI
US AI company behind ChatGPT, the GPT models and Codex, run as a public benefit corporation.
At a glance
- Founded
- December 2015
- Based in
- San Francisco, United States
- People
- Sam Altman, Chief executive and co-founder; Greg Brockman, President and co-founder
- Known for
- ChatGPT, GPT-6, Codex, gpt-oss
- Funding
- Private; valued at $852bn (March 2026); controlled by the non-profit OpenAI Foundation
- Weekly users
- More than 900 million (March 2026)
- Legal form
- OpenAI Group PBC, controlled by the OpenAI Foundation
- Website
- https://openai.com
OpenAI builds large AI models and the products that run on them, including the ChatGPT assistant, the Codex coding agent and a platform for developers. It was founded in 2015 as a non-profit research lab. Since October 2025 the business has been OpenAI Group PBC, a public benefit corporation (a company legally bound to pursue a stated public mission as well as profit). It is controlled by the non-profit OpenAI Foundation, which held a 26% stake when the new structure was set up.
OpenAI is best known for ChatGPT, launched in November 2022, which brought chatbots into everyday use, and for the GPT series of models. Its current generation is GPT-6. GPT-6 Astra, its most capable model, arrived in September 2026 with tight limits on its cybersecurity abilities. The cheaper GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna followed later that month, and GPT-6.1 Sol came out on 29 September.
In March 2026 OpenAI closed a $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion valuation, with Amazon, NVIDIA and Microsoft among the investors. At that point it reported more than 900 million weekly users. Sam Altman is chief executive and Greg Brockman is president.
Sources
- TechCrunch, OpenAI, not yet public, raises $3B from retail investors in monster $122B fund raise, 2026-03-31
- CNBC, OpenAI completes restructure, solidifying Microsoft as a major shareholder, 2025-10-28
- TechCrunch, OpenAI launches Astra, its powerful (and controversial) new model, 2026-09-03
- TechCrunch, OpenAI launches GPT-6.1 Sol, says it nearly matches GPT-6 Astra and costs less, 2026-09-29
Facts last checked 2026-10-02