OpenAI
▲Serious ConcernLargest AI company. Converted from nonprofit. Secret Pentagon contract.
Key Facts
- Company
- OpenAI
- Product
- ChatGPT
- Grade
- Serious Concern
- Overall Score
- 1.8 / 5
- Last Updated
- 2026-03-22
- Military Status
- Active
Converted to Public Benefit Corporation (Oct 2025). Nonprofit renamed OpenAI Foundation, retains 26% equity (~$130B), sole power to appoint/remove PBC board. Microsoft holds 27%. Critics say overlapping boards make oversight theoretical. Targeting $280B revenue by 2030.
Signed Pentagon classified deployment deal Feb 2026, taking the contract Anthropic refused. Full contract text remains secret. CEO Altman admitted deal was 'rushed' and 'looked opportunistic and sloppy.' Staff resigned over the decision.
Assessment by Pillar
Free tier trains on conversations and serves topic-based ads (conversation context, chat history, prior ad interactions). Paid tiers opt out of training. Data stored on US servers (Microsoft Azure).
Major investors publicly known. Gulf sovereign wealth fund participation. PBC conversion raised governance questions. Nonprofit retains 26% equity but overlapping boards weaken oversight.
Pentagon classified contract with undisclosed terms. Claims red lines on surveillance/weapons but full contract is secret.
Models fully closed-source. Training data undisclosed. No independent audits published.
Paid users can opt out of training and delete history. Free users now subject to targeted advertising.
Key Findings
Your free ChatGPT conversations may train future models. Switching to a paid tier or a provider that doesn't train by default protects your data.
The Pentagon contract terms are not public. Without transparency about how military deployment is governed, independent verification of claimed safeguards is not possible.
Topic-based ads on free ChatGPT use conversation context, chat history, and prior ad interactions for targeting. Launched Feb 9, 2026. Expanded to Canada March 26. Free and Go tiers only. Users can opt out but lose some daily message allowance. CPM ~$60.
OpenAI converted to a Public Benefit Corporation (Oct 2025). The nonprofit (now OpenAI Foundation) retains 26% equity and sole board appointment power, but critics say overlapping boards make oversight theoretical. Microsoft holds 27%.
OpenAI projected to lose $14B in 2026 despite $25B+ ARR, raising questions about long-term sustainability and pressure to monetize user data more aggressively.
What They Say vs. What Happened
Ensure AGI benefits all of humanity (founding charter, 2015)
Converted to capped-profit (2019). Signed exclusive Microsoft deal. Pursued full for-profit at $157B valuation. Dissolved superalignment team. Safety researchers departed. Served subpoenas to 7+ critic nonprofits (Oct 2025). NDAs threatened departing employees with equity loss.
“OpenAI today has become everything that it said it would not be.”
Comprehensive investigation based on 260+ interviews
Karen Hao, Empire of AI (Penguin Press 2025); NBC News (2025) ↗The Pattern
“They always do just enough to be able to put the press release out.”
— Hany Farid, UC BerkeleyThe Law Is Catching Up
A provider that doesn't train on your conversations by default, publishes its military/government policies, and has an independent governance structure protecting its mission.
Who Funds Them
Recent News
Frequently Asked Questions — OpenAI
Is ChatGPT safe for my data?
Free ChatGPT trains on your conversations and now serves targeted ads. Paid tiers ($20+/month) opt out of training and have no ads. All data is stored on US servers.
Who funds OpenAI?
OpenAI has raised $168B+ from Amazon ($50B), SoftBank ($30B), Nvidia ($30B), Microsoft ($13B+), and others including Gulf sovereign wealth funds.
Does OpenAI have military contracts?
OpenAI signed a classified Pentagon deployment contract in February 2026. The full contract terms are not public. CEO Sam Altman admitted the deal was 'rushed.'
Does ChatGPT show ads?
OpenAI introduced topic-based ads to free and Go tiers on Feb 9, 2026, expanded to Canada March 26. Ads use conversation context, chat history, and prior ad interactions—not traditional profile-based targeting. Users can opt out but lose some daily message allowance. Paid tiers remain ad-free.
Sources
- [1]$110B round at $840B valuation— Crunchbase News, Feb 27, 2026
- [2]Amazon invested $50B, Nvidia $30B, SoftBank $30B— CNBC, Feb 27, 2026
- [3]Total raised $168B+ over 11 rounds from 68 investors— Tracxn, Mar 2026
- [4]CoreNest (UAE) invested in Series E— Tracxn, Mar 2026
- [5]Pentagon classified deployment deal signed Feb 27, 2026— NPR, Feb 27, 2026
- [6]Altman admitted deal was 'rushed' and 'looked opportunistic and sloppy'— CNBC, Mar 3, 2026
- [7]Full contract text not public; critics question safeguards— The Intercept, Mar 8, 2026
- [8]Robotics lead Caitlin Kalinowski resigned over Pentagon deal— Built In, Mar 2026
- [9]Internal staff 'fuming'; many employees respect Anthropic's stance— CNN, Mar 4, 2026
- [10]Contract allows 'any lawful purpose'; relies on government following own laws— MIT Technology Review, Mar 2, 2026
- [11]Public Benefit Corporation conversion (Oct 28, 2025). Nonprofit retains 26% equity, sole board appointment power. Microsoft holds 27%.— Multiple / Public record, Oct 2025
- [12]Introduced targeted advertising to free ChatGPT— Wikipedia (cited), 2026
- [13]Targeting $280B revenue by 2030; ~$20B ARR— CNBC, Feb 27, 2026
- [14]900M+ weekly active users, 50M+ consumer subscribers— Crunchbase News, Feb 27, 2026
Related Assessments
Disclaimer
Assessments reflect publicly available information and the published methodology of the Behind the AI Research Team. Grades represent analytical assessments derived from the published scoring framework, not statements of fact about internal company operations. If you believe any claim is inaccurate, contact [email protected] with the specific claim and your evidence.