OpenAI investors may have been deceived, according to SEC investigation
As part of its probe into potential investor misrepresentation, the Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing internal emails written by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Those in the know say that in December, the regulator subpoenaed OpenAI for internal records pertaining to current and past directors and officers of the company. The nature of the regulator’s investigation has not been publicized yet. That was after the OpenAI board removed Altman from his position as CEO and board member in November. Directors at the time made the vague claim that Altman lacked “consistently candidness” in his communications.
As part of the agreement that included a reconfigured board—which he has chosen not to join—Altman was reinstated as CEO less than two weeks later.
The investigation is being carried out by SEC investigators stationed in New York, who have requested that some senior officers of OpenAI maintain internal records.
Fundraisers seeking funds in public or private markets are subject to the same regulations that prohibit deceiving investors, which are enforced by the SEC. Investigations are frequently closed by the SEC without explicit claims of wrongdoing.
It was an anticipated response to the assertion made by the old OpenAI board in its November statement, according to some people familiar with the probe. According to one source, the SEC has not identified any particular communication or remark made by Altman that it considers misleading.
As part of its recently concluded tender offer, OpenAI pitched investors, valuing the AI behemoth behind viral chatbot ChatGPT at over $80 billion. Meanwhile, the SEC’s civil investigation was simmering away in the background.
A nonprofit organization oversees OpenAI. The for-profit division’s investors include workers, VCs, and Microsoft, which has put $13 billion into the division in return for what amounts to a 49% share in its profits.
There is a lot of international interest in OpenAI’s business methods and worldwide effect, and the SEC investigation is just the latest in a long line of legal and governmental hurdles the company must overcome. It also reveals that the corporation is still coping with the aftermath of last year’s failed attempt to remove Altman.
According to a November Wall Street Journal report, OpenAI officials began to field inquiries from regulators and law-enforcement agencies, including the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, over the board’s charge that Altman lacked candor, during the height of the leadership upheaval.
A criminal inquiry is still underway, according to those in the know. You couldn’t teach it to focus.
Microsoft and OpenAI are both involved in a business cooperation, and both companies’ relationships have prompted competition inquiries by government officials in the United States and Europe.
In conjunction with Altman’s return, OpenAI appointed two new board members, who in turn requested an investigation into the circumstances behind Altman’s dismissal from WilmerHale.
According to those in the know, the WilmerHale investigation should finish up in the next several weeks and issue a report detailing what happened. The evaluation centers on Altman’s actions and the board’s treatment of his dismissal.
According to some of those in the know, the WilmerHale lawyers have occasionally taken a narrower view of Altman’s behavior and management style throughout the years in their line of questioning, seemingly more concerned with what transpired in November and the board’s involvement. The attorneys inquired about both subjects, according to another source familiar with the review.
